Semiconductor Nanowires:
A Platform for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
by Charles M. Lieber
Sunday, May 1, 2011 | Montreal, QC, Canada
1830-1930h / Montreal Convention Center / The Palais des Congrès de Montréal
Advances in nanoscience and nanotechnology depend critically on development of nanostructures whose properties are controlled during synthesis. Here we focus on this critical concept using semiconductor nanowires, which provide the capability for synthetic design to realize unprecedented structural and functional complexity in building blocks, as a platform material. First, a brief review of the synthesis of complex modulated nanowires in which rational design can be used to precisely control composition, structure and most recently structural topology will be discussed. Second, the unique functional characteristics emerging from our exquisite control of nanowire materials will be illustrated with several selected examples from nanoelectronics, quantum electronics and nano-enabled energy. Third, the remarkable power of nanowire building blocks will be further highlighted through their capability to create unprecedented active electronic interfaces with biological systems. Recent work pushing the limits of both multiplexed extracellular recording at the single cell level and the first examples of intracellular recording will described, as well as the prospects for truly blurring the distinction between nonliving and living information processing systems.
Charles M. Lieber attended Franklin and
Marshall College for his undergraduate education and graduated with honors in Chemistry. After
doctoral studies at Stanford University and postdoctoral research at the California Institute of
Technology, in 1987 he assumed an Assistant Professor position at Columbia University. There
Lieber initiated research addressing the synthesis and properties of low-dimensional materials.
He moved to Harvard University in 1991 and now holds a joint appointment in the Department
of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, as the Mark Hyman Professor of Chemistry, and the School
of Engineering and Applied Sciences. At Harvard, Lieber has pioneered the synthesis of a broad
range of nanoscale materials, the characterization of the unique physical properties of these
materials, the development of methods of hierarchical assembly of nanoscale wires, and the
demonstration of key uses of these nanomaterials in nanoelectronics and computing, creating and
developing nanoelectronics-biology interfaces, nano-enabled energy, and nanophotonics.
Lieber’s work has been recognized by a number of awards, including the MRS Fred Kavli
Distinguished Lectureship in Nanoscience (2010), ACS Inorganic Nanoscience Award (2009),
NIH Pioneer Award (2009) ACS Award in the Chemistry of Materials (2004), APS McGroddy
Prize for New Materials (2003), MRS Medal (2002), and Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology
(2001). Lieber is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences, and an elected Fellow of the Materials Research Society,
American Physical Society, American Chemical Society and American Association for the
Advancement of Science. Lieber is Co-Editor of Nano Letters, and serves on the editorial and
advisory boards of a large number of science and technology journals. Lieber has published over
320 papers, which have been cited more than 50,000 times, and is the principal inventor on more
than 35 patents. In his spare time, Lieber has been active in commercializing nanotechnology,
and has founded several nanotechnology companies.
Charles M. Lieber attended Franklin and
Marshall College for his undergraduate education and graduated with honors in Chemistry. After
doctoral studies at Stanford University and postdoctoral research at the California Institute of
Technology, in 1987 he assumed an Assistant Professor position at Columbia University. There
Lieber initiated research addressing the synthesis and properties of low-dimensional materials.
He moved to Harvard University in 1991 and now holds a joint appointment in the Department
of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, as the Mark Hyman Professor of Chemistry, and the School
of Engineering and Applied Sciences. At Harvard, Lieber has pioneered the synthesis of a broad
range of nanoscale materials, the characterization of the unique physical properties of these
materials, the development of methods of hierarchical assembly of nanoscale wires, and the
demonstration of key uses of these nanomaterials in nanoelectronics and computing, creating and
developing nanoelectronics-biology interfaces, nano-enabled energy, and nanophotonics.