Professor George Gruner
Department of Physics
UC Los Angeles

"Carbon nanotube network: a new electronic material?"

A variety of nano-scale carbon materials have recently been identified, with carbon nanotubes as the most prominent example. A random network of such tubes can be regarded as a new electronic material with interesting properties, which can also be tailor-made by various chemical functionalization routes. This attribute- together with simple room temperature fab processes - opens up application opportunities in the area of electronics, opto-electronics, and photovoltaics. Recent results on solar cells, OLEDs and smart windows will be reviewed together with field effect transistors - devices that underlie the emerging field of plastic electronics. Such nanoscale electronic devices also offer electronic detection schemes that are complementary to optical detection methods, and bio-inspired detection of light, bio-molecules, and ligand-receptor interactions will also be touched upon.