Research advances nanowire technology For Jumbo Displays Like the 120 Foot High NASDAQ Sign in Times Square



Researchers at Northeastern created a network of nanowires that can be scaled up more efficiently and cost-effectively to create displays such as the NASDAQ sign in New York City’s Times Square.

The seven-story NASDAQ sign is at the NASDAQ MarketSite at 4 Times Square on 43rd Street. The Nasdaq sign was unveiled in January 2000 and cost $37 million to build. The sign is 120 feet (36.6m) high. NASDAQ pays more than $2 million a year to lease the space for this sign.

Using Gallium nitride (GaN), a highly effective semiconductor material, the team created, for the first time, a horizontally aligned network of GaN nanowires, which are integral components in the development of electrical circuits in the nanoscale. GaN is currently used to create light-emitting diodes (LED) and blue and ultra-violet emitting lasers.

“Making devices that emit blue light and ultra-violet light is currently very expensive,” said Latika Menon, assistant professor of physics and co-author of the study. “The horizontal structure of the GaN nanowire network will result in a more cost-effective way to advance this technology.”

Electrodes allow for the flow of electricity between GaN nanowires and electrical wires, and the horizontal structure of the GaN nanowire networks are more easily attached to electrodes than vertical networks. In addition, the GaN nanowires have a cubic structure, with optical and transport properties that are more advanced than other nanowire structures, resulting in a more effective electrical circuit.

In terms of manufacturing, these horizontal network patterns can also be scaled up to large wafer sizes that are more compatible with the technology used to integrate them into new nanoelectronic devices. These devices connect nanotechnology and electronic devices to develop smaller and less costly manufacturing processes and products.

9 thoughts on “Research advances nanowire technology For Jumbo Displays Like the 120 Foot High NASDAQ Sign in Times Square”

  1. More on the Tel Aviv protein-based photosynthesis device:

    –it’s a vital function to keep everyone wanting a job to be employed, and we need to create millions of new jobs to create the new energy economy.

    But I just don’t think the ‘Protein’ PV device is gonna be practical.

    –If it does have a short lifespan, then you would need tens of millions of people employed in factories to constantly make replacements, more people out there swapping out the devices, and still more millions handling the enormous waste/recycle tasks.

    Not very practical.
    I’ve been wrong before though.

  2. The company in Tel Aviv has an interesting approach, but I question its’ viability in the real world.

    Even inorganic photovoltaics apparently have a drop-off in performance after a few years. But organic proteins?

    Any biological material is going to degrade quickly. Ever left a piece of food outside and notice how fast it shrivels, dessicates and decomposes in the elements?

    It might be 100 times cheaper, but consider that it might contribute enormously to our solid waste problem if these thngs only last a year and need to be replaced.

    You don’t want to climb up to your roof every year to put a new one up there. Or have enormous teams of people in the desert continuously swapping out old units for the new.
    But hey good luck to them.

  3. Well I guess you like the 1100 other more critical articles as I have written over 2100.

    Like the ones I referenced in the above article.

    Deaths from energy sources

    The big energy picture where I said above “solar power is tiny and even with these breakthroughs will take time to have a major impact. Plus without cheap power storage solar is not base load power.”

    I have compared solar and concentrated solar to other power sources

    I am going to set the comments for review and identification.

  4. BW,

    You can call me names all you like, but the oil factor was the whole point of the Dilbert post and apart from an unsubstantiated claim, there isn’t much to this story.

    Apparently it’s just not a story anymore to say that you’re taking a certain approach in your research — you need a giant breakthrough to make the news.

    I’d love to get excited about the next big future, but after 1000 unsubstantiated and uncritically reviewed claims, I’m ready for something substantial. Stories which include caveats and explain the specific challenges faced by a particular technology are actually more credible and therefore more exciting.

    Don’t get me wrong — I love your blog and I’m glad that you cover this stuff, but if every poster just oohs and aahs everytime someone makes an outrageous claim, it all gets tedious rather fast.

    -Mercy

    P.S. Yes, it’s an obviously fake name. If you prefer a less obviously fake name, call me Mike Watson.

  5. Thanks Michael. I will try to use this power wisely.

    Using Dogbert as my guide.
    😉
    Well probably someone more ethical and wise.

  6. Brian, congrats on the link from Scott Adams!

    This shows that you have a high search ranking for keywords related to common technology issues, like solar power.

    Use your power wisely. 😉

  7. I believe you are a known troll using an obviously fake name.

    we’ll see in 2009 if SUNRGI hits its target. There is nothing in the articles saying that SUNRGI by itself would effect the price of oil in any non-neglible way.

    The SUNRGI claim is being able to reduce the price of concentrated solar power to half the best price.

  8. So we have get another unproven, untested claim giddily repeated by the media.

    What’s amazing about this claim is that we already have several ways to generate power at 7 cents per kwh that don’t involve oil.

    Even if this were completely true, it would have no effect on the price of oil.

    At least when EEStore makes an absurdly unsupported claim about magic capacitors that are 100x better than the current state, THEIR fantasy really would change the game.

    If SUNRGI wants to compete in realm of energy fantasy, they’ll have to be a bit more imaginative. For example, they could claim that strapped to the wings of a Moller SkyCar, these cells will allow flying cars to operate at 120 mpg.

    -Mercy

Comments are closed.