| HOME >> BIOLOGY >> TECHNOLOGY |
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a new class of electronic logic device in which current is switched by an electric field generated by the application of mechanical strain to zinc oxide nanowires.
The devices, which include transistors and diodes, could be used in nanometer-scale robotics, nano-electromechanical systems (NEMS), micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) and microfluidic devices. The mechanical action used to initiate the strain could be as simple as pushing a button, or be created by the flow of a liquid, stretching of muscles or the movement of a robotic component.
In traditional field-effect transistors, an electrical field switches or "gates" the flow of electrical current through a semiconductor. Instead of using an electrical signal, the new logic devices create the switching field by mechanically deforming zinc oxide nanowires. The deformation creates strain in the nanowires, generating an electric field through the piezoelectric effect which creates electrical charge in certain crystalline materials when they are subjected to mechanical strain.
"When we apply a strain to a nanowire placed across two metal electrodes, we create a field, which is strong enough to serve as the gating voltage," said Zhong Lin Wang, a Regents professor in the Georgia Tech School of Materials Science and Engineering. "This type of device would allow mechanical action to be interfaced with electronics, and could be the basis for a new form of logic device that uses the piezoelectric potential in place of a gate voltage."
Wang, who has published a series of articles on the devices in such journals as Nano Letters, Advanced Materials and Applied Physics Letters, calls this new class of nanometer-scale device "piezotronics" because they use piezoelectric potential to tune and gate the charge transport process in semiconductors. The devices rely on the unique prope
'/>"/>
| Contact: John Toon jtoon@gatech.edu 404-894-6986 Georgia Institute of Technology Research News Source:Eurekalert |
Related biology technology :
1. Understanding the science of solar-based energy: more researchers are better than one
2. Researchers decode viral process that prepares cells for HIV infection
3. Dartmouth researchers advance cellulosic ethanol production
4. Researchers develop new model for cystic fibrosis
5. Use it or lose it? Researchers investigate the dispensability of our DNA
6. Sigma-Aldrich and the University of Illinois Offer New Boronic Acid Surrogates to Researchers Worldwide Through Licensing Agreement
7. Researchers write protein nanoarrays using a fountain pen and electric fields
8. Researchers show how to stamp nanodevices with rubber molds
9. The Lancets New Online Medical Journal Helps Clinicians and Medical Researchers Find Practice-Changing Evidence Quickly and Easily
10. Ultrafast lasers give CU-Boulder researchers a snapshot of electrons in action
11. VAP(R) Cholesterol Test Helps Researchers Identify Treatment Effects of Combination Therapy
 |
| Copyright © 2003-2012 Bio-Medicine. All rights reserved. ABOUT | CONTACT US | DISCLAIMER | PRIVACY POLICY | TERMS AND CONDITIONS |  |