| Nanotechnologists at The National Nuclear Security Administration's Sandia Laboratories have been trying to find a simple and inexpensive way to self assemble nanocrystals into controlled and orderly arrangements with a silica insulating layer. Such a casing could be linked to semiconductors and the encased nanocrystals could function as a laser, a catalyst or tuneable computer memory. The Sandia researchers and a team from the University of New Mexico have now found a commercially viable way to construct such casings. The self-assembly allows nanocrystal arrays to be integrated into devices using standard microelectronic processing techniques. |