According to reports, breakthroughs by chemists at the University of Chicago (UChicago) could produce "devices of the future," such as next-generation displays and solar cells.
In fact, since the 1950s, the technical components have become smaller and smaller. But to create the electronics of the future, such as more powerful cell phones, more efficient solar cells, and even quantum computers, scientists need to develop entirely new technologies on the tiniest scale.
One area of interest to scientists is nanocrystals. These tiny crystals can combine themselves into many forms, but scientists have struggled to figure out how to get them to "talk" to each other. A new study has made a breakthrough in enabling nanocrystals to work together electronically. The research, which was recently published in the journal Science, could open the door to future devices with new features.
The paper's corresponding author, Dmitri Talapin, a professor at the University of Chicago, said, "We call these superatomic building blocks because they can empower new capabilities. For example, let the camera see the infrared range. But until now, it was very difficult to assemble them into structures and have them 'talk' to each other. Now, for the first time, we don't have to make a choice anymore. This is a transformative improvement. ”
Josh Portner, one of the study's first authors and a chemistry PhD student, said in their paper, the scientists laid out design rules that should allow for the creation of many different types of materials.
In fact, before that, scientists could also make nanocrystals out of many different materials (metals, semiconductors, and magnets), each with different properties. But the problem is that whenever they try to assemble these nanocrystals into an array, the new supercrystals grow long "hairs" around them.
These hairs make it difficult for electrons to jump from one nanocrystal to another. Electronics are messengers of electronic communications, and their ability to move easily is a critical part of any electronic device.
The researchers needed a way to reduce the "hairs" around each nanocrystal so they could wrap them tighter and reduce the void in the middle. The researchers said, "When these voids are only one-third of the original, the probability of electrons skipping is about 1 billion times higher." It varies very strongly with distance. ”
To shave off these "hairs," they try to understand what's going on at the atomic level. Studies have found that part of the process of growing supercrystals is done in solution. It turns out that as crystals grow, they undergo an unusual transition in which gaseous, liquid, and solid phases all coexist.
By precisely controlling the chemical reactions at this stage, the researchers say, they can create crystals with a harder, finer appearance that can be more tightly packed together. They say, "Understanding their behavior is a huge leap for us. ”
The full range of applications remains unclear, but scientists can think of multiple areas where the technique could lead. "For example, perhaps each crystal can become a qubit in a quantum computer; coupling qubits into an array is one of the fundamental challenges of current quantum technology," the researchers said. ”