Gino DiLabio

National Institute for Nanotechnology

CV Highlights

• National Research Council Officer, Molecular Scale Devices Group, National Institute for Nanotechnology (2003 - present)

• Assistant Research Officer, Steacie Institute for Molecular Sciences, National Research Council of Canada (2001 - 2003)

• Adjunct Professor, Carleton University, Ottawa (2001 - present)

• Research Interests: Research activities cover a range of fields from chemical biology to nanoscale physics and include using computational techniques to understand how to control organic nanostructure formation on silicon surfaces, weak intermolecular interactions, and reaction thermodynamics and kinetics

Big Science on a Nanoscale

Big innovations are coming in smaller and smaller packages. Gino DiLabio, with scientists from the National Institute for Nanotechnology (NINT) and the University of Alberta, is modeling organic molecule nanostructures - where one nanometer equals one millionth of a millimeter. No problem seems too small to tackle at the NINT.

DiLabio uses WestGrid computing resources to model the nanoscale line growth process on silicon surfaces. Research has found that once formed on the silicon surfaces, these miniscule nanostructures inevitably modify the electronic structure of silicon. The long-term goal of DiLabio's research is to marry the diversity of organics with the functionality of semiconductors to create new sensing and computing elements.

High-level computational techniques are used to elucidate the reaction mechanisms for the growth of various nanostructures on these extremely small surface areas. These structures may exhibit conductive and/or catalytic activity. Ultimately, DiLabio's research may open new doors to controlling the extent and direction of these structures' growth.

This research has already led to a major breakthrough - the development of a model for a molecular transistor. The NINT/UofA team demonstrated, using computer simulations and scanning tunneling microscopy, how the current flowing through a single molecule can be modulated by a single, nearby localized charge. This work was published in the June 2005 issue of Nature and received international attention.