Partnership targets nanotechnology research

Keithley Instruments is working with the Albany NanoTech Center to share research information and work together to further the understanding of nanotechnology and optoelectronics technologies.

Keithley Instruments is working with the Albany NanoTech Center at the University at Albany - State University of New York (SUNY) to share research information and work together to further the understanding of nanotechnology and optoelectronics technologies.

Keithley will provide the Albany NanoTech Center with a state-of-the-art semiconductor device characterisation system.

Keithley technology, known for its unique capabilities in extremely precise, low-level electrical measurements, is particularly well suited for making measurements on nanoscale devices.

"The addition of this test equipment will have a great impact on several research programmes being undertaken at Albany NanoTech, ranging from development of electronic devices based on carbon nanotubes to molecular electronics and spintronics to development of gallium-arsenide-based and gallium-nitride-based optoelectronic devices, namely photodetectors, light emitting diodes and vertical cavity surface emitting and edge emitting lasers", said Dr Fatemeh (Shadi) Shahedipour-Sandvik, Assistant Professor and Scientist at the School of NanoSciences and NanoEngineering.

"Keithley expects to learn much from our information exchange with Albany NanoTech that we will be able to apply to the future products we create for the nanotechnology industry", says Mark Hoersten, Keithley Vice President, Business Management.

"Our industry's collective ability to solve the complexities of making accurate connections and measurements at the nano level will play a significant role in determining how rapidly these exciting innovations move into full-scale production.

What we learn in partnerships with Albany NanoTech and other leaders in this field are critically important windows into the needs of our customers".

Electronic nanodevices are extraordinarily small and typically produce tiny signals.

Measuring these signals accurately demands very sensitive instruments.

The equipment that the Albany Nanotech Center will be using from Keithley, the Model 4200-SCS semiconductor characterisation system, offers subfemtoamp current measurement resolution.

The Model 4200-SCS is used in nanotech research facilities around the world, because of its ability to make extremely sensitive measurements, open architecture, and ease of use, making it well suited for applications such as current/voltage characterisation of carbon nanotube electronics, molecular electronics, optoelectronics, and materials research.

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