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Materials science

A ‘bed of nails’ on silicon

Nature volume 432, pages 450–451 (2004)Cite this article

The future of electronics may rest on devices that integrate other semiconductors with silicon. A means of creating tiny semiconductor pillars on a silicon surface is now demonstrated.

Computers rely on silicon. Although other semiconductors have desirable features, in this context the materials properties of silicon are so outstanding that it is really the only choice for the large-scale integration of fast electronic devices. But there is a dark shadow over silicon, in that it produces no light. Many devices use light — simple ones, such as the solid-state diode lasers typically found in CD players, for example; and more complex ones, such as the light amplifiers used in long-range optical-fibre communication. Gallium arsenide or other more exotic semiconductors must be incorporated into these devices to generate light. In Nano Letters, Mårtensson et al.1 present a new means of doing so.

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Figure 1: To the point.

LARS SAMUELSON

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering,

    Max G. Lagally & Robert H. Blick

  2. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, 53706, Wisconsin, USA

    Max G. Lagally & Robert H. Blick

Authors
  1. Max G. Lagally
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  2. Robert H. Blick
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Lagally, M., Blick, R. A ‘bed of nails’ on silicon. Nature 432, 450–451 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/432450a

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