This paper discusses the opportunities and the challenges related to the use of nanostructured
material for particle detectors.
These materials are subject of intense research and application works since the nineties. Neverthe-
less, a direct application in technology related to particle detection in accelerator or underground
experiments can not yet be found. Despite of this, several R&Ds based on these advanced mate-
rials are pursued by few INFN research groups and in the world.
Nanotechnology is advancing rapidly and it is worthwhile to be aware of its potentiality with the
ambition to improve the performance of existing detectors or conceive new ones as required in
future generation of experiments.
Here the discussion is limited to nanostructured materials where detector applications are en-
visaged and some INFN groups are involved: colloidal quantum dots, metal nanowires, carbon
nanotubes and graphene sheets, which are examples of materials with dimensionality 0, 1 and 2