Researchers at Osaka University believe that cheaply-produced crystalline nanochains could lead to the development of single-electron transistors (SETs) and nanoscale photon devices such as field-effect transistors (FETs) within 10 years.They have bulk-produced carpets of micrometer long chains of alternating crystalline globules and silicon dioxide stems that they believe could much simpler and much cheaper to produce than the advanced techniques being developed for nanotubes.

These nanoscale processes could result in a breakthrough in miniaturization of electronic devices.