Experts Available on Nanowires for Nobel Prize in Physics

Nanowires are tiny crystalline fibers, typically less than one hundred nanometer across, and thousands of nanometers long. Nanowires are grown starting with a tiny bead of liquid gold or other metal that is placed in a vapor of the nanowire material. The material is attracted to the beads and grows into a long thin spike. Nanowires display an array of physical properties that depend not only on the material but also on their diameter, for example they conduct electricity differently than a large piece of the material they are made with. Peidong Yang a possible candidate for the Nobel prize in physics, has examined many different types of nanowires and their properties, including the ability to conduct a laser beam down its extremely narrow diameter. They can be used in quantum computers, as when two nanowires cross it creates a quantum dot; in flexible solar cells; and in tiny self-contained sensors.

Experts available:• Oded Rabin studies nanowires and their thermoelectric properties. Rabin worked with Yang and collaborated with him on two papers and a patent.o Title: Associate professor, Materials Science & Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park.o Email: [email protected]o Phone: 301-405-3382o Webpage: http://www.mse.umd.edu/faculty/rabino Note: not available 10-11 am EST October 6

• YuHuang Wang, a materials and physical chemist, and an expert in nanoscience.o Title: Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland, College Park.o Email: [email protected]o Phone: 301-405-3368o Webpage: http://www.chem.umd.edu/yuhuang-wang/

• Gary Rubloff studies nanowires and their application in batteries.o Title: Minta Martin professor, Materials Science & Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park. Director, Maryland NanoCenter and NEES EFRCo Email: [email protected]o Phone: 301-405-3011o Webpage: http://www.rubloffgroup.umd.edu/