The technology was conceived at the University of Wisconsin-Madison lab for advanced materials for energy and electronics under the direction of Professor Michael Arnold. The impact of nanomaterials on society has often been limited because it is difficult to synthesize, purity, process, organize, and integrate nanomaterials and nanostructures. Our research especially draws from multiple disciplines to address fundamental materials challenges - in controlling the growth, processing, ordering, and heterogeneity of nanomaterials and in understanding phenomena beyond the scale of single nanostructures - that must be overcome to exploit these exciting components in technology.