Now researchers at the Joint Center for Atomic Research in Japan have managed to create similar arrangements of silicon atoms, a feat previously thought impossible because of silicon's chemical nature.

Potential applications of the silicon assemblies range from components in quantum computers to chemical catalysts to new superconducting compounds.

Silicon is a vital material for the vast semiconductor industry and one of the most studied elements in all of science. This new discovery might lead to applications that could match or even exceed those expected for carbon fullerenes.

Unlike carbon atoms, pure silicon cannot form stable, closed configurations. The new research, however, reveals that silicon can gather around a central metal atom and settle into basket-like arrangements called silicon cage clusters.

One particularly low energy, and therefore stable, configuration consists of twelve silicon atoms forming a regular hexagonal cage that surrounds a tungsten atom (see figure at this URL).

Because the choice of a central metal atom affects the chemical behavior of cage clusters, scientists should be able to tailor the clusters to create novel nanodevices and catalysts. The researchers note that clusters efficiently isolate their guest metal atoms from the surrounding environment, a characteristic that could permit a cluster to act as a robust qubit (a databit in quantum computing) in a computer by storing a single bit of information in the spin state of the enclosed metal atom.

(Reference: H. Hiura et al, Physical Review Letters, 26 February 2001; full text at this URL.)

(Editor's Note: This story is adapted from PHYSICS NEWS UPDATE, the American Institute of Physics Bulletin of Physics News Number 527 February 23, 2001 by Phillip F. Schewe, Ben Stein, and James Riordon.)

[Contact: Hidefumi Hiura]

28-Feb-2001