"Nanowire" is the term used to describe a component of nanotechnology used to create electrical circuits out of compounds that are capable of being formed into extremely small circuits. These wires are typically only a few nanometers in size.

Current research being done on nanowires is using the same materials developed for high-temperature superconductivity.

Graydon (2003) reported that in a potentially significant experiment for the future of microphotonics, researchers in the USA, China, and Japan designed "low-loss" silica nanowires that can bend light around very tight corners.

Carbon nanotubes represent an important class of nanowires.

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