Bulk nanoscale wire is now possible.

Materials science is one of my favorites.  They do the most fascinating things.  Today we have a group that has invented a way to make wire that is 100 nanometers thick and as long as you want.  Just to put this in perspective, Intel is currently producing its Core2 Duo chips on a 45 nanometer lithography process.

To use the new process, the researchers begin with a reservoir of ink connected to a glass micropipette that has an aperture as small as 100 nanometers. The micropipette is brought close to a substrate until a liquid meniscus forms between the two. As the micropipette is then smoothly pulled away, ink is drawn from the reservoir. Within the tiny meniscus, the solute nucleates and precipitates as the solvent quickly evaporates.

So far, the scientists have fabricated freestanding nanofibers approximately 25 nanometers in diameter and 20 microns long, and straight nanofibers approximately 100 nanometers in diameter and 16 millimeters long (limited only by the travel range of the device that moves the micropipette).

To draw longer nanowires, the researchers developed a precision spinning process that simultaneously draws and winds a nanofiber on a spool that is millimeters in diameter. Using this technique, Yu and his students wound a coil of microfiber. The microfiber was approximately 850 nanometers in diameter and 40 centimeters long.

To further demonstrate the versatility of the drawing process, for which the U. of I. has applied for a patent, the researchers drew nanofibers out of sugar, out of potassium hydroxide (a major industrial chemical) and out of densely packed quantum dots. While the nanofibers are currently fabricated from water-based inks, the process is readily extendable to inks made with volatile organic solvents, Yu said.

If the process can be scaled up to produce wire and thread in real quantity, as in by the mile, then we are going to see some really serious changes in materials pretty soon.  One of the ways to make composites stronger is to make the fibers thinner and longer.  Another way is to include fibers of different material to get different properties included in the cloth.  How about a rope that is spun from fibers only 800 nanometers across?  How about a fiber optic cable with like a billion threads in it?  That's some serious business.

The Thready Phantom