Professor Tansel Karabacak in the UALR’s Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology (EIT) and his co-researchers at Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute are receiving worldwide attention with their new technique for growing slimmer copper nanorods that could lead to interesting new applications for advancing integrated 3D chip technology.

Their technique, which periodically exposes fledgling copper nanorods to oxygen during the vapor-deposition process, results in nanorods with a reduced diameter and increased density. These slimline nanorods have diameters between 10 nm and 50 nm, far smaller than the typical 100 nm diameter of conventionally grown copper nanorods.

The thought is that slimmer nanorods will be an effective bonding agent or adhesive to use in the development or fabrication of 3D integrated devices.