Probing the properties of individual nanostructures by novel techniques

Nanomaterials are the fundamental components of nanoscience and nanotechnology, and they are different from bulk materials in grain size, surface/interface-to-volume ratio and grain shape, which are the origins of their unique electrical, optical, thermodynamic, mechanical and chemical properties. The small size of nanostructures hampers the applications of well- established testing and measurement techniques, thus new methods and approaches must be developed for their synthesis, property characterization and device fabrication. This has been the focus of our research, aiming at exploring state-of-the-art techniques for materials processing and characterization. This paper reviews our progress in nanomaterials research.