Eyecatchers-39 : Solar Cells 200 Hundred Times Thinner than Hair - AFP

Scientists have developed solar cells 200 hundred times thinner than a human hair that they believe will power the nanoscale gadgetry of tomorrow.

From customer devices to bioterrorism monitors to in-body diagnostics, this ultra-microscopic technology is poised to take centre stage in less than a decade from now. But finding the sources to power it has become a headache.

Charles Leiber and colleagues at Harvard University said silicon nanowire they devised that can convert light into electrical energy. Virtually invisible to the naked eye, a single strand can crank out up to 200 picowatts.

Two hundred billionth of a watt may not seem much, but at nanoscale it is enough to provide a steady output of electricity to run ultralow power electronics, including some that could be worn on, or even inside the body. It is also clean, highly efficient and renewable.

"An individual nanoelectronic device will indeed consume very little power, but to do something interesting will require many interconnected devices and thus the power requirement, even for nanosystems, can be a challenge," Leiber explained in an email.

Monitoring bioterrorism threats, for example, would require an entire array of nanosensors, nanoprocessors to analyse the signals received, and nano-transmitters to relay information to a centralised facility, he said.

Conventional sources, he added are "bulky, non-renewable and expensive" by comparison - AFP

Courtesy: The New Indian Express, Madurai, Oct.18, 2007.

Grateful thanks to AFP and The New Indian Express.