[2] He is known for his contributions to the synthesis, assembly and characterization of nanoscale materials and nanodevices, the application of nanoelectronic devices in biology, and as a mentor to numerous leaders in nanoscience.
He is the principal inventor on over fifty issued US patents and applications, and joined nanotechnology company Nanosys as a scientific co-founder in 2001 and Vista Therapeutics in 2007.
[5] Lieber was placed on "indefinite" paid administrative leave in January 2020 shortly after his arrest for making false statement to federal agents.
[19] Lieber's contributions to the rational growth, characterization, and applications of a range of functional nanoscale materials and heterostructures have provided concepts central to the bottom-up paradigm of nanoscience.
These include rational synthesis of functional nanowire building blocks, characterization of these materials, and demonstration of their application in areas ranging from electronics, computing, photonics, and energy science to biology and medicine.
[20] Lieber's contributions to the rational growth, characterization, and applications of a range of functional nanoscale materials and heterostructures have provided concepts central to the bottom-up paradigm of nanoscience.
These include rational synthesis of functional nanowire building blocks, characterization of these materials, and demonstration of their application in areas ranging from electronics, computing, photonics, and energy science to biology and medicine.
In his early work Lieber articulated the motivation for pursuing designed growth of nanometer-diameter wires in which composition, size, structure and morphology could be controlled over a wide range,[21] and outlined a general method for the first controlled synthesis of free-standing single-crystal semiconductor nanowires,[22][23] providing the groundwork for predictable growth of nanowires of virtually any elements and compounds in the periodic table.
Lieber developed applications of scanning probe microscopies that could provide direct experimental measurement of the electrical and mechanical properties of individual carbon nanotubes and nanowires.
[26][27] This work showed that semiconductor nanowires with controlled electrical properties can be synthesized, providing electronically tunable functional nanoscale building blocks for device assembly.
[40][41] Lieber recently introduced the assembly concept "nanocombing",[42] to create a programmable nanowire logic tile[43] and the first stand-alone nanocomputer.
Lieber has also developed nanoelectronic devices for cell/tissue electrophysiology, showing that electrical activity and action potential propagation can be recorded from cultured cardiac cells with high resolution.
The development of nanoelectronics-enabled cellular tools underpins Lieber's views[53] on transforming electrical recording and modulation of neuronal activity in brain science.
[60] Chronic histology and multiplexed recording studies demonstrate minimal immune response and noninvasive integration of the injectable electronics with neuronal circuitry.
[63][64] This concept of electronics integration with the brain as a nanotechnological tool potentially capable of treating neurological and neurodegenerative diseases, stroke and traumatic injury has drawn attention from a number of media sources.
[74] Critics expressed worry that Lieber's arrest could amount to McCarthyism, as a part of rising tension with China amid the China–United States trade war, beginning during the first Trump administration.
[75][76][77][78] Dr. Ross McKinney Jr., chief scientific officer of the Association of American Medical Colleges, claimed there was increasing anxiety among his colleagues that scientists will be scrutinized over legitimate sources of international funding, purporting that "slowly but surely, we're going to have something of a McCarthyish purity testing".