Silicon nanomembranes

This article is, based on the presentation given by Max G. Lagally (University of Wisconsin-Madison) as. part of Symposium X: Frontiers of Materials Research on April 18, 2006 at the Materials Research Society Spring Meeting in San Francisco. Structures with nanoscale dimensions are the essence of nanotechnology. Beginning with quantum dots and buckyballs, nanostructures now include nanotubes, :rods, wires, and most recently, nanomembrane : very thin, large, freestanding or free -floating strain-engineered single crystals that can variously bemade into tubes or other shapes, cut into millions of identical wires, or used as conformal sheets. This article provides a brief overview of the fabrication and properties of strained-silicon nanomembranes.