News From NINT

The National Institute for Nanotechnology is maintaining its' position in the forefront of the international Nanotech research community with a new one-of-a-kind transmission electron microscope (TEM), a Hitachi HF 3300 TEM equipped with a cold field emission gun - the first instrument of its kind in the world. More info on the microscopes can be found here.

In other news from NINT, Dr. Hicham Fenniri continues to push the boundaries of nanotube self-assembly. His team of Visiting Fellow Dr. Jose Raez and PhD candidate Jesus Moralez was able to align organic nanotubes using simple drop flow methods - the first time this has ever been done.
This accomplishment is a huge boost for the field of molecular electronics - the development of electronic devices based on components consisting of individual molecules rather than the continuous materials found in today's semiconductor devices.

'Alignment is a critical issue for molecular electronics,' explains Dr. Fenniri. 'The challenge is not only to make an electronic device from molecules; it is to put the molecules together in a configuration that takes advantage of their properties. We've shown this can be done using a very simple tool, there's no need for complex and expensive methods. This is a quantum leap.'