A zinc oxide nanostructure that resembles the helical configuration of DNA could provide engineers with a new building block for creating nanometer-scale sensors, transducers, resonators and other devices that rely on electromechanical coupling.

Based on a superlattice composed of alternating single-crystal “stripes” just a few nanometers wide, the “nanohelices” get their shape from twisting forces created by a small mismatch between the stripes and are produced using a vapor-solid growth process at high temperature.

“This structure provides a new building block for nanodevices,” said Zhong Lin Wang, a Regents professor in the School of Materials Science and Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. “From them we can make resonators, place molecules on their surfaces to create frequency shifts — and because they are piezoelectric, make electromechanical couplings. This adds a new structure to the toolbox of nanomaterials.”

Source: Georgia Institute of Technology news release