Possible uses include biological labeling, laser light,
catalysts, memory storage, and relief for physicists
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - A wish list for nanotechnologists might
consist of a simple, inexpensive means - actually, any means at
all - of self-assembling nanocrystals into robust orderly
arrangements, like soup cans on a shelf or bricks in a wall,
each separated from the next by an insulating layer of silicon
dioxide. The silica casing could be linked to compatible
semiconductor devices. The trapped nanocrystals might function
as a laser, their frequency dependent on their size, or as a
very fine catalyst with unusually large surface area, or perhaps
a memory device tunable by particle size and composition. Or
perhaps the technologist might want to stop nanocrystals from
clumping. Agglomeration prevents them from being used as light-
emitting tagging mechanisms to track cancer cells in the body
and from being used in light-emitting devices needed for solid
state lighting. In this week's journal Science, rese