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Wednesday, 24th December 2008 (1727 views)

Scientists from Lund University, Sweden, have demonstrated how they can control the development of nanowires grown from gold 'seeds' down to a singular atomic level.

Professor Lars Samuelson stated that this represents a breakthrough in the creation of nanowires and gives more understanding of the physical processes involved in the technique.

The work is published in the Nature Nanotechnology journal, with Kimberly Dick and Philippe Caroff of Lund University listed as the main authors.

During the study, the team produced "highly-regular" nanowires by growing them from microscopic particles of gold that acted as 'seeds', then baking the wires in an oven.

Kimberly Dick explained: "Two of the key parameters needed to control the crystal structure are nanowire diameter and the temperature at which they are fabricated."

Meanwhile, researchers at the University of Idaho are engieneering gold nanowires that can 'swim' through the bloodstream and target cancerous cells.

 

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