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Nanowire
A nanowire is a nanostructure in the form of a wire with the diameter of the order of a nanometre (10−9 m). More generally, nanowires can be defined as structures that have a thickness or diameter constrained to tens of nanometers or less and an unconstrained length. At these scales, quantum mechanical effects are important—which coined the term "quantum wires".
Many different types of nanowires exist, including superconducting (e.g. YBCO), metallic (e.g. Ni, Pt, Au, Ag), semiconducting (e.g. silicon nanowires (SiNWs), InP, GaN) and insulating (e.g. SiO2, TiO2).
Molecular nanowires are composed of repeating molecular units either organic (e.g. DNA) or inorganic (e.g. Mo6S9−xIx).
Typical nanowires exhibit aspect ratios (length-to-width ratio) of 1000 or more. As such they are often referred to as one-dimensional (1-D) materials. Nanowires have many interesting properties that are not seen in bulk or 3-D (three-dimensional) materials. This is because electrons in nanowires are quantum confined laterally and thus occupy energy levels that are different from the traditional continuum of energy levels or bands found in bulk materials.
A consequence of this quantum confinement in nanowires is that they exhibit discrete values of the electrical conductance. Such discrete values arise from a quantum mechanical constraint on the number electronic transport channels at the nanometer scale, and they are often approximately equal to integer multiples of the quantum of conductance:
This conductance is twice the reciprocal of the resistance unit called the von Klitzing constant, RK = 25812.80745... Ω, defined as RK = h/e2 and named for Klaus von Klitzing, the discoverer of the integer quantum Hall effect.
Examples of nanowires include inorganic molecular nanowires (Mo6S9−xIx, Li2Mo6Se6), which can have a diameter of 0.9 nm and be hundreds of micrometers long. Other important examples are based on semiconductors such as InP, Si, GaN, etc., dielectrics (e.g. SiO2,TiO2), or metals (e.g. Ni, Pt).
There are many applications where nanowires may become important in electronic, opto-electronic and nanoelectromechanical devices, as additives in advanced composites, for metallic interconnects in nanoscale quantum devices, as field-emitters and as leads for biomolecular nanosensors.
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Nanowire AI simulator
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Nanowire
A nanowire is a nanostructure in the form of a wire with the diameter of the order of a nanometre (10−9 m). More generally, nanowires can be defined as structures that have a thickness or diameter constrained to tens of nanometers or less and an unconstrained length. At these scales, quantum mechanical effects are important—which coined the term "quantum wires".
Many different types of nanowires exist, including superconducting (e.g. YBCO), metallic (e.g. Ni, Pt, Au, Ag), semiconducting (e.g. silicon nanowires (SiNWs), InP, GaN) and insulating (e.g. SiO2, TiO2).
Molecular nanowires are composed of repeating molecular units either organic (e.g. DNA) or inorganic (e.g. Mo6S9−xIx).
Typical nanowires exhibit aspect ratios (length-to-width ratio) of 1000 or more. As such they are often referred to as one-dimensional (1-D) materials. Nanowires have many interesting properties that are not seen in bulk or 3-D (three-dimensional) materials. This is because electrons in nanowires are quantum confined laterally and thus occupy energy levels that are different from the traditional continuum of energy levels or bands found in bulk materials.
A consequence of this quantum confinement in nanowires is that they exhibit discrete values of the electrical conductance. Such discrete values arise from a quantum mechanical constraint on the number electronic transport channels at the nanometer scale, and they are often approximately equal to integer multiples of the quantum of conductance:
This conductance is twice the reciprocal of the resistance unit called the von Klitzing constant, RK = 25812.80745... Ω, defined as RK = h/e2 and named for Klaus von Klitzing, the discoverer of the integer quantum Hall effect.
Examples of nanowires include inorganic molecular nanowires (Mo6S9−xIx, Li2Mo6Se6), which can have a diameter of 0.9 nm and be hundreds of micrometers long. Other important examples are based on semiconductors such as InP, Si, GaN, etc., dielectrics (e.g. SiO2,TiO2), or metals (e.g. Ni, Pt).
There are many applications where nanowires may become important in electronic, opto-electronic and nanoelectromechanical devices, as additives in advanced composites, for metallic interconnects in nanoscale quantum devices, as field-emitters and as leads for biomolecular nanosensors.