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Topic Name: Microscopic "nanolamps" -- light-emitting nanofibers about the size of a virus or the tiniest of bacteria
Category: Nanocharacterization
Research persons: Prof. Harold G. Craighead ,Jose Manuel Moran-Mirabalgraduate students Jason D. Slinker, John A. DeFranco, Scott S. Verbridge, Samuel Flores-Torres and CNF staff member Rob Ilic.
Location: Nanobiotechnology Center ,350 Duffield Hall ,Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853
Atten: Randy Hess (rbh27@cornell.edu),PHONE 607-254-5393FAX 607-254-5375, United States
Details
To help light up the nanoworld, a Cornell interdisciplinary team of
researchers has produced microscopic "nanolamps" -- light-emitting c
about the size of a virus or the tiniest of bacteria.In a collaboration of experts in organic materials and nanofabrication,
researchers have created one of the smallest organic light-emitting devices to
date, made up of synthetic fibers just 200 nanometers wide (1 nanometer is
one-billionth of a meter). The potential applications are in flexible electronic
products, which are being made increasingly smaller.The fibers, made of a compound based on the metallic element ruthenium, are
so small that they are less than the wavelength of the light they emit. Such a
localized light source could prove beneficial in applications ranging from
sensing to microscopy to flat-panel displays.The work, published in the February issue of Nano Letters, was a
collaboration of nine Cornell researchers, including first author José M. Moran-Mirabal,
an applied physics Ph.D. student; Héctor Abruña, the E.M. Chamot Professor of
Chemistry and Chemical Biology; George Malliaras, associate professor of
materials science and engineering and director of the Cornell NanoScale
Facility; and Harold Craighead, the C.W. Lake Jr. Professor of Engineering and
director of the National Science Foundation-funded Nanobiotechnology Center.
Using a technique called electrospinning, the researchers spun the fibers
from a mixture of the metal complex ruthenium tris-bipyridine and the polymer
polyethylene oxide. They found that the fibers give off orange light when
excited by low voltage through micro-patterned electrodes -- not unlike a tiny
light bulb.
"Imagine you have a light bulb that is extremely small," said Malliaras, an
organic materials expert. "Then you can use the bulb to illuminate objects that
you wouldn't be able to see otherwise."
Craighead's research group, which focuses on nanostructures and devices,
supplied the expertise on the
electrospinning
technique.
The technique, explained Moran-Mirabal, who works in Craighead's laboratory,
can be compared with pouring syrup on a pancake on a rotating table. As the
syrup is poured, it forms a spiraling pattern on the flat pancake, which in
electrospinning is the substrate with micropatterned gold electrodes. The syrup
would be the solution containing the metal complex-polymer mixture in solvent. A
high voltage between a microfabricated tip and the substrate ejects the solution
from the tip, Moran-Mirabal said, and forms a jet that is stretched and thinned.
As the solvent evaporates, the fiber hardens, laying down a solid fiber on the
substrate.
As scientists look for ways to innovate -- and shrink -- electronics, there
is much interest in organic light-emitting devices because they hold promise for
making panels that can emit light but are also flexible, said Moran-Mirabal.
"One application of organic light-emitting devices could be integration into
flexible electronics," he said.
The research also shows that these tiny light-emission devices can be made
with simple fabrication methods. Compared with traditional methods of
high-resolution lithography, in which devices are etched onto pieces of silicon,
electrospinning requires almost no fabrication and is simpler to do.
The durability of organic electronics is still under investigation, and this
recently completed research is no exception, Craighead said.
"The current interest is in the ease with which this material can be made
into very small light-emitting fibers," he said. "Its ultimate utility, I think,
will depend on how well it stands up to subsequent processing and use."
Other co-authors on the work are graduate students Jason D. Slinker, John A.
DeFranco, Scott S. Verbridge, Samuel Flores-Torres and CNF staff member Rob Ilic.
About researchers:
Ph.D. student;
Craighead's laboratory
Applied and Engineering Physics
Addresses:
G6 Clark Hall
210 WILDFLOWER DRIVE UNIT 4, ITHACA, NY, 14850
EMAIL:jmm248@cornell.edu,Phone Numbers :
(607)255-6286,(607)645-0546
Prof. Harold G. Craighead
School of Applied and Engineering Physics
212 Clark Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
Courier Address:
G7 Clark Hall
School of Applied & Engineering Physics
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
Laboratories: (607) 255-6286
Prof. Craighead's office: (607) 255-8707
Prof. Craighead's e-mail: hgc1@cornell.edu
Fax: (607) 255-7658
Héctor D. Abruña
|
Office: |
782A
Spencer T. Olin Laboratory |
Phone:
(outside the University
preceded by 1-607-25) |
5-4720 or 5-4175 |
|
Email: |
hda1@cornell.edu |
Prof. George Malliaras
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-1501
Tel: (607) 255-1956 Fax: (607) 255-2365
Email: ggm1 (suffix: @cornell.edu
Funded:
National Science Foundation-funded
Nanobiotechnology Center.
 
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