Chemistry professor awarded fellowship for silicon work

A University of Nebraska-Lincoln chemistry professor has been awarded the prestigious John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship for 2004 for his research on the novel nanostructures of silicon.

Xiao Cheng Zeng was notified late last week that he was one of 185 artists, scholars and scientists named in the 2004 United States and Canada competition, selected from 3,268 applicants for awards totaling $6.9 million.

"I was shocked," said Zeng, just the seventh UNL professor to receive the award. "I didn't expect to receive the award because the chances of being awarded are, like, one in 10."

Zeng will receive a $38,000 fellowship to continue his research. He said the fellowship would give him additional time -- likely about a year -- and travel opportunities to collaborate with his research partner, Hideki Tanaka of Okayama University in Japan, and other scientists across Asia who have helped in the research process.

Zeng said he decided to apply last year because he met his personal goal -- his research being published in at least 100 publications.

He decided to apply every year from that time on to see if he could receive the fellowship.

But Zeng won on the first try.

Since that time, he has hit 110 publications, and his research on the nanostructures of silicon has continued.

Zeng said he first became interested in chemistry through his father, who was a quantum physicist, studying properties of chemicals.

But Zeng's interest in his father's work and his interest in liquid chemicals evolved into the study of the properties of water.

Zeng earned his bachelor's degree at Peking University in China and his Ph.D. at Ohio State University. He joined UNL as a faculty member in 1993, earning a full professorship in 2001.

In 2002, he was appointed as Willa Cather Distinguished Professor of Chemistry.

From his studies, Zeng has found silicon has many properties similar to water.

In previous research, Zeng and his team discovered a new form of ice crystal -- dubbed "Nebraska" ice -- which resulted from water being frozen under extremely cold temperatures.

Zeng also wanted to find out whether the nanostructure of silicon, which is one-billionth of a meter wide, had similar properties to water when applied on a small scale.

Silicon already is used in computer chips and cell phone chips as a semi-conductor. This is the foundation of studying silicon, Zeng said.

The chips use 130-nanometer technology, he said, but in several years it will be down to 90-nanometer technology. The lower the nanometer technology, the more efficient the chip.

Zeng said he hopes to eventually reach 40- or 50-nanometer technology.

By analyzing single molecules, Zeng said he and other scientists can work from the bottom up to find the lowest or most efficient nanometer technology, while others work from the top down.

"We want to find the critical size of silicon's semi-conducting property to be useful for the chips," he said.

Still, Zeng is not directly involved in the cell phone and computer chip industries themselves.

Nanotechnology is considered a "buzzword" right now in the science world, Zeng said.

So, he said, it's easy to see why he got involved.

But Zeng's research is "new and unique" to the field, he said.

The research, which is completed through computer animation and UNL's PrairieFire supercomputer, enables the team to learn and research the nanostructures of silicon, he said.

With this animation, Zeng said, the team has found a nanotube structure of silicon not seen in nature.

The nanotube structure of silicon indicates that silicon could act like a metal and be a good conductor of electricity, he said.

"This will require much more research, but I am just happy to find new structures," Zeng said.

A paper by Zeng on the silicon nanotubes was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in February.

Patrick Dussault, UNL department of chemistry chairman, said the national recognition was great for Zeng and the department.

"It's great Zeng was the latest of the group of our scientists within in the department to be awarded," he said.

Zeng's yearlong absence will not affect his work within the department, Dussault said.

"Zeng is impressive, given he is able to do research, have recognition for his theories and research," he said, "all the while still lecturing and being a departmental citizen."

Zeng said he's happy to be representing the chemistry department.

"I come from a strong department," Zeng said. "It's one of strongest. And I'll be happy to carry the torch on."