Penn State

Research: Electronics

Nanoelectronics at Penn State

The field of nanotechnology has opened large new areas of research and exploration for electronics. Because many nanomaterials exhibit different behaviors than their bulk counterparts, their electrical properties may be influenced in new and unexpected ways by conventional effects, such as chemistry, thermodynamics, mechanics, interfacial characteristics, magnetism, and structure. Since these nanoscale materials exist between the boundaries of the well-studied world of bulk materials and the quantum world of nuclear physics, opportunities abound for the optimization of conventional electronic systems, the invention of new electronic materials, the creation of new applications, and the development of novel electronic devices.

Nanoelectronics intersect a wide array of materials, devices and systems. These include: conductive thin films; wide band gap semiconductor materials; molecule-based electronic devices; molecular switches and motors; nanoscale logic and memory systems; superconducting wires; conductive and semi-conductive nanotubes and nanowires; nanoscale semiconductor junctions; ferromagnetic semiconductors; spintronic systems; magnetic semiconductor quantum wells; and quantum wires and quantum dots.

With nationally recognized programs in the sc iences and engineering, Penn State is an ideal place to study and explore nanoelectronics, from both top-down engineering and bottom-up chemistry, physics and materials science approaches. Every day, faculty and research staff at Penn State work to exploit the future promise of nanoelectronics in collaboration with university and business colleagues, as well as post doctoral fellows, advanced degree candidates, and undergraduate students from around the world.


Related Articles

Raising the Speed Limit of Electronic Devices

Collaborations are the Key to New Electronic Materials

Electrical Contacts in Semiconductors


Related Institutes & Centers

Electro-Optics Center

Materials Research Institute's Nanofabrication Laboratory


Faculty: Electronics

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