THE preparation of highly porous materials by sol–gel processing followed by supercritical
drying was pioneered by Kistler in 19311. These materials, called aerogels and comprising …

HIGHLY porous inorganic films have potential applications as dielectric materials, reflective
and anti-reflective coatings, flat-panel displays, sensors, catalyst supports and super …

Silicon shows photo-and electroluminescence at visible wavelengths when chemically
etched into a microporous network of 'wires' several nanometres thick. This raises the …

LIGHT-emitting devices based on silicon would find many applications in both VLSI and
display technologies, but silicon normally emits only extremely weak infrared …

Crystalline and amorphous forms of silicon are the principal materials used for solid-state
electronics and photovoltaics technologies. Silicon is therefore a well-studied material …

The carbothermal reduction of silica into silicon requires the use of temperatures well above
the silicon melting point (≥ 2,000° C). Solid silicon has recently been generated directly …

Thermal insulation under extreme conditions requires materials that can withstand complex
thermomechanical stress and retain excellent thermal insulation properties at temperatures …

Owing to their ultralow thermal conductivity and open pore structure,–, silica aerogels are
widely used in thermal insulation,, catalysis, physics,, environmental remediation,, optical …

PHOTONIC devices are becoming increasingly important in information and communication
technologies. But attempts to integrate photonics with silicon-based microelectronics are …

MICROELECTRONIC device integration has progressed to the point where
complete'systems-on-a-chip'have been realized1–3. Now that optoelectronics is becoming …