New substance classes for nanomaterials

Chemists at Goethe University Frankfurt have developed two new classes of materials in the field of nanomaterials and investigated them together with their cooperation partners at the University of Bonn: for the first time, they have succeeded in producing a nano sphere of silicon atoms and a building block for a diamond-like crystal of the semiconductor elements silicon and germanium. The two new classes of materials have potential applications in the miniaturisation of computer chips, in high-resolution screens for smartphones, and in solar cells and light-emitting diodes with the highest levels of efficiency.