About Nanotechnology- general informations -

What is Nanotechnology?

• Nanotechnology is the creation and use of materials or devices at extremely small scales.

1 nm = 0.000000001 m

Tools In Nanotechnology

• The main tools used in nanotechnology are three main microscopes– Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM)– Atomic Force Microscope (AFM)– Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM)

Nanotechnology Foretold

• Concept first introduced by American physicist Richard P. Feynman (1918-1988)

• Calculated that an encyclopedia set could be compressed to fit the head of a pin.

• Predicted several aspects in today’s nanotechnology– Advanced microscopes– Developments in fabrication methods– Possibilities of atom-to-atom assembly

Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM)

• Uses high-energy electron beam to probe material with thickness < 100 nm.

• Some electrons are absorbed or bounced off object; some pass through the object and make magnified images

• Digital camera records images.

Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM)

• Uses nanosized probe to scan objects and materials

• Uses tunneling to detect surface and creates a map of surface

• Rate of electrons that tunnel from probe to surface related to distance between probe and surface

Other Uses for Tools

• Microscopes used for imaging and manipulating nanostructures

• “Arms” in AFMs and STMs used to move around individual atoms

• Scientists at IBM made this image using an STM to with iron atoms into a circular structure

Computer Circuits

• Computer circuits are small pieces of semiconducting material containing an electronic circuit.

• Most commonly used in computers

• Consists of as many as millions of transistors.

Nanotechnology is applied to the reduction in the size of these computer circuits!!!

Methods of Developing Computer Circuits

• The most common method of fabricating computer circuits is the top-down method– Thin films of materials, which make up a

mask, are deposited on a silicon wafer– Unnecessary portions are etched off

Benefits of Nanotechnology• In the computer world,

nanotechnology is important to the development of small computer circuits that can reduced the size of computers.

Disadvantages of Nanotechnology

• Safety hazards with nanomaterials

• Some studies detected possible cancer-causing properties of carbon nanotubes

• Some nanomaterials bounded with other materials or components

Conclusion

• Nanotechnology has a lot of advantages in different kind of activities and becomes more present in our lives.

• I think it is the way to develop new technologies , becoming more efficient.