| SUBJECT |
NANOSTRUCTURED "SMART DUST" CHEMICAL SENSORS. The objective of this effort is to construct sensors for chemical or biological molecules that use no power, are the size of dust particles, and can be probed at a remote distance using visible or infrared laser scanner technology. The particles are made of porous silicon, and they are constructed with of an elaborate layered structure that gives the materials photonic crystal properties. To use them as chemical sensors, the porous nanostructure is chemically modified so that its code changes in a predictable fashion when it is exposed to chosen molecules
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