Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute developed a new method for creating a layer of gold nanoparticles that measures only billionths of a meter thick. These self-assembling gold coatings with features measuring less than 10 nanometers could hold important implications for nanoelectronics manufacturing. In addition, Sang-Kee Eah, assistant professor in the Department of Physics, Applied Physics, and Astronomy at Rensselaer, demonstrated how the gold nanoparticles assemble into a unique uniform pattern called a superlattice. Eah observed a superlattice measuring 20 microns, with a distance between lines of nanoparticles — or lattice constant — of 8.8 nanometers.
