Silicon Nanomembranes

Abstract

AbstractThis article is based on the presentation given by Max G. Lagally (University of Wisconsin–Madison) as part of Symposium X: Frontiers of Materials Research on April 18, 2006, at the Materials Research Society Spring Meeting in San Francisco.Structures with nanoscale dimensions are the essence of nanotechnology. Beginning with quantum dots and buckyballs, nanostructures now include nanotubes, rods, wires, and most recently, nanomembranes: very thin, large, freestanding or freefloating strain-engineered single crystals that can variously be made into tubes or other shapes, cut into millions of identical wires, or used as conformal sheets. This article provides a brief overview of the fabrication and properties of strained-silicon nanomembranes.