Chemists from the Goethe University, Frankfurt have developed new groups of nanomaterials and analyzed the discovery in collaboration with researchers from the University of Bonn. For the first time, researchers have successfully produced nanospheres using silicon atoms and diamond-like crystal building blocks of semiconductors silicon and germanium. The two new classes of nanomaterial substances potentially have major applications in the miniaturization of high-resolution screens, computer chips, solar cells, light-emitting diodes, and more.
Computer chips today measure only a few nanometres in size and have become even more energy-efficient and powerful as a result of advancements in the science of miniaturization. The etching process used traditionally in the production of chips has been reaching its limits for quite some time now. Hence, the development of novel nanostructured semiconductor materials has been a venture worth undertaking for many scientists. These nano-scale semiconductors also play a vital role in converting light into electricity and vice versa.
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