Self-assembled nanowire-on-insulator (SANOI) for nano-chip technology

One-dimensional semiconducting nanowires (Si or Ge) directly synthesized on insulator layer by chemical method provide a viable technology analogous to silicon-on-insulator (SOI) and germanium-on-insulator (GOI), yet presenting much better chip design/integration flexibility, structural scalability, and cost-effectiveness. The new technology, called self-assembled nanowire-on-insulator (SANOI), illustrates a good example of how bottom-up nanotechnology based on inexpensive chemistry may provide solution to some of the most daunting challenges in the conventional silicon CMOS scaling.