CLUSTER 2 : Nanoscale Building Blocks Period : March

Tremendous progress has been made in the synthesis of nanoscale structures – nanocrystals, nanowires and nanotubes – that serve as building blocks for new devices and applications. However many challenges remain. They include the synthesis of nanostructures with well-defined sizes and shapes, the synthesis of new classes of materials, the in-depth characterization of newly developed nanostructures, the rational organization of these nanostructures into complex functional structures, and the fusion of nanoscale building blocks with state-of-the-art processing techniques, including e-beam lithography and focused-ion-beam sculpting, to build novel devices.