Canada has made new breakthroughs in the field of nanocrystalline transistors

Research teams at the National Institute for Nanotechnology (NINT) and the University of Alberta have demonstrated that microwave ovens can be used to create manufacturing molds that can be used to produce smaller, more complex wafers and reduce the cost of manufacturing nano-sized transistors. According to International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors, the use of self-assembling properties of fast co-polymers can reduce the size of transistors and improve functionality. However, it usually takes up to 36 hours to heat the molecules at high temperatures and the fast polymer will begin to self-assemble. The research team led by Professor Jillian Buriak of the Canadian Institute of Nanotechnology used traditional microwave ovens to dramatically reduce the time required for the formation of regular pattern of nano-scale massive copolymers, from 36 hours to less than 1 minute.