introduction to nanotechnology module #1 nanotechnology: what is it, and why is it so “big” now?...
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Introduction to NanotechnologyModule #1
Nanotechnology: What Is It, And Why Is It So “BIG” Now?
Copyright 2008 Stephen J. Fonash
Nanotechnology is Impacting Everything
(Cartoon is from an article by Robert Poe, illustration by Court Patton -- Electronic Business, 11/1/2002)
This module is one of a series designed to be used by faculty members at post-secondary institutions in workshops, courses, and overview lectures to introduce nanotechnology and its applications. There is no particular
significance to the module number system
The series was funded in part by:
The National Science FoundationGrant # DUE 0532646
andThe Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development
Grant # C000029471
Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation or the Pennsylvania
Department of Community and Economic Development
Glossary of Terms
Throughout these modules you will find words and terms printed in the color blue. These words and terms are defined in the
glossary (glossary.html), which can be opened by clicking here.
Copyright 2008 Stephen J. Fonash
Copyright 2008 Stephen J. Fonash
Outline
1. Where does the word “nanotechnology” come from and what does it mean?
2. Some size rangesa) The macroscaleb) The microscalec) The nanoscale
3. Nanotechnology – “the builder’s final frontier”4. How old is nanotechnology?5. Why is nanotechnology taking off now?
a) We can now make small things controllably and repeatedlyb) We can now see what we made
6. Key ideas
Copyright 2008 Stephen J. Fonash
Outline
1. Where does the word “nanotechnology” come from and what does it mean?
2. Some size rangesa) The macroscaleb) The microscalec) The nanoscale
3. Nanotechnology – “the builder’s final frontier”4. How old is nanotechnology?5. Why is nanotechnology taking off now?
a) We can now make small things controllably and repeatedlyb) We can now see what we made
6. Key ideas
Copyright 2008 Stephen J. Fonash
The word ”nano” originally comes from the Greek word “nanos”, meaning “dwarf”. In
Roman times (2000 years ago) the word had changed to “nano” but it continued to mean “dwarf”. In modern Italian, the word is still
“nano” and it still means “dwarf”.
Today, in scientific usage, it is not a word but it is a prefix and it means really, really, really
small or, more precisely, it means 1 / 1,000,000,000
(one billionth) of something.
First of all:What does the prefix “nano” mean?
Copyright 2008 Stephen J. Fonash
So What Does the Word “Nanotechnology” Mean?
It means technology based on man-made things that are really, really, really small
or more precisely it means
technology based on man-made things
whose sizes are such that at least one dimension is in the range of
one billionth of a meter.
Copyright 2008 Stephen J. Fonash
Outline
1. Where does the word “nanotechnology” come from and what does it mean?
2. Some size rangesa) The macroscaleb) The microscalec) The nanoscale
3. Nanotechnology – “the builder’s final frontier”4. How old is nanotechnology?5. Why is nanotechnology taking off now?
a) We can now make small things controllably and repeatedlyb) We can now see what we made
6. Key ideas
Copyright 2008 Stephen J. Fonash
How small is
1
1,000,000,000
of a meter?
Copyright 2008 Stephen J. Fonash
1 meter = 3.28 feet
1 / 100 meter = 1 centimeter (cm)
1 / 1000 meter = 1 millimeter (mm)
1 / 1,000,000 meter = 1 micrometer* (µm)
*also called a micron
1 / 1,000,000,000 meter = 1 nanometer (nm)
1 / 1,000,000,000,000 meter = 1 picometer (pm)
Where does the Nanometer fit in the length scale?
Another way of looking at how small a Nanometer is-
Courtesy of NanoHorizons, Inc.
Museum of Science, Boston
Still another way of looking at how small a Nanometer is-
Click on the black box to view Mini Cooper movie
QuickTime™ and a decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Copyright 2008 Stephen J. Fonash
Definitions of Some Different Size Ranges
Macro-scale ● The sizes of things we’re accustomed to using and seeing; i.e., anything bigger than about a millimeter.
Micro-scale ● Smaller than the macro-scale ● Sizes from about one millionth of a
meter to one ten thousandth of a meter; i.e., sizes from about a micrometer to about 1/10 of a millimeter.
Nano-scale: ● Smaller than the micro-scale. Really small!
● Sizes from one billionth of a meter to one ten millionth of a meter; i.e., sizes from
about a nanometer to about 1/10 of a micrometer.
Copyright 2008 Stephen J. Fonash
How Do We See Things in These Different Size Ranges?
MeterSize RangeThese are
sizes we can see with just
our eyes
MillimeterSize RangeThese are
sizes we can see with an
optical microscope
MicrometerSize Range
Bigger objects in this range can be seen
with an optical microscope.
Smaller objects may need an
electron microscope
NanometerSize Range
Bigger objects can be seen with electron microscopes.
Smaller objects require field
emission electron or atomic force microscopes
MACRO-SCALE NANO-SCALEMICRO-SCALE
Copyright 2008 Stephen J. Fonash
Let’s look at these size ranges pictorially.
Let’s also get some idea of what nature makes and what man makes in these size ranges.
Copyright 2008 Stephen J. Fonash
The next viewgraph may be useful for remembering how
small the nano-scale size range is.
As this viewgraph shows, the nano-scale range covers sizes from that of viruses down to structures with a few atoms (quantum dots).
Copyright 2008 Stephen J. Fonash
Some Small Naturally Occurring and Man-Made Structures
1 m
m
100
µm
10 µ
m
1 µm
100
nm
10 n
m
1 nm
100
pm
Transistor of 2007
Human hair
tissue
Bacterium cell
Human cell
Virus
Transistors of 20-30 Years ago
Protein
Individual atom
Drug molecule Quantum dot
DNA
Nano-scaleMicro-scaleMacro-scale
Copyright 2008 Stephen J. Fonash
Also note from our pictorial representation of scales that the next
size range that is smaller than the nano-scale is the pico-scale.
Copyright 2008 Stephen J. Fonash
The pico-scale is the size range of the
basic “legos” used to build
everything else – individual atoms
Copyright 2008 Stephen J. Fonash
Outline
1. Where does the word “nanotechnology” come from and what does it mean?
2. Some size rangesa) The macroscaleb) The microscalec) The nanoscale
3. Nanotechnology – “the builder’s final frontier”4. How old is nanotechnology?5. Why is nanotechnology taking off now?
a) We can now make small things controllably and repeatedlyb) We can now see what we made
6. Key ideas
Copyright 2008 Stephen J. Fonash
What’s After Nanotechnology – Is there a Picotechnology?
No, nothing to build at the pico-scale.
Copyright 2008 Stephen J. Fonash
Nano-Scale
• Lots to build at the nano-scale.
• Atoms and molecules are the “legos” in the building.
• The creating and using of ‘things’ at the nano-scale, for the benefit of mankind, is nanotechnology.
Copyright 2008 Stephen J. Fonash
““Nanotechnology is the builder’s final Nanotechnology is the builder’s final frontier.”frontier.”
Richard SmalleyRichard Smalley1996 Nobel Laurate in Chemistry, Rice University 1996 Nobel Laurate in Chemistry, Rice University
Copyright 2008 Stephen J. Fonash
Outline
1. Where does the word “nanotechnology” come from and what does it mean?
2. Some size rangesa) The macroscaleb) The microscalec) The nanoscale
3. Nanotechnology – “the builder’s final frontier”4. How old is nanotechnology?5. Why is nanotechnology taking off now?
a) We can now make small things controllably and repeatedlyb) We can now see what we made
6. Key ideas
Copyright 2008 Stephen J. Fonash
Nanotechnology has actually
been practiced by humans
for over 2000 years.
Copyright 2008 Stephen J. Fonash
We now know that a cup made by the Romans 1700 years ago used
nanotechnology!
(We just found out because we just learned how to see the
nanoparticles they used).
Paul Mulvaney, Not all That’s Gold Does Glitter, MRS Bulletin, December 2001, pp 1009-1013
The Lycurgus Cup is made from glass containing gold and silver nanoparticles. The cup is seen in:
(a) transmitted light
and
(b) reflected light
Copyright 2008 Stephen J. Fonash
We now know that the beautiful stained-glass windows made 1600 years ago by the ancient Irish also
used nanotechnology.
(We just found out because we just learned how to see the nano-particles
they used).
Armagh, Ireland, AD 444
Copyright 2008 Stephen J. Fonash
We now know that beautiful plates made by the Renaissance Italians
500 years ago also used nanotechnology.
(We just found out because we
just learned how to see the nanoparticles they used also).
Padovani et al. J. Appl. Phys. 2003
16th century Renaissance pottery
Copyright 2008 Stephen J. Fonash
Outline
1. Where does the word “nanotechnology” come from and what does it mean?
2. Some size rangesa) The macroscaleb) The microscalec) The nanoscale
3. Nanotechnology – “the builder’s final frontier”4. How old is nanotechnology?5. Why is nanotechnology taking off now?
a) We can now make small things controllably and repeatedlyb) We can now see what we made
6. Key ideas
Copyright 2008 Stephen J. Fonash
If nanotechnology has been practiced by humans for almost 2000 years, why is it taking off
now?
Why is it so “big” now?
Copyright 2008 Stephen J. Fonash
Because we have learned what’s going on-
• We can now controllably and repeatedly make things in the nano-size range.
• And finally we can now see what we have made.
Copyright 2008 Stephen J. Fonash
• For example, today’s transistors are nano-scale structures. In fact, the advanced transistors in production in 2008 are 45 nm in length!
• Today more nano-scale transistors are made in a year than there are grains of rice grown in a year—now that’s control and repeatability!
• We have really learned how to build at the nano-scale!
We can controllably and repeatedly make things in the nano-scale range
Copyright 2008 Stephen J. Fonash
The following picture is a cross-section of an actual man-made transistor (circa 2002). This is a FET transistor in which, in the on-state, electrons travel from the source to the drain by going down the 50 nm long “channel” under the gate of this transistor.
This sample has been made by cutting a chip containing millions of transistors and looking at the cross-section to focus on one transistor. The imaging is done with a scanning electron microscope (SEM).
Adapted from Linda Geppert, The Amazing Vanishing Transistor Act,
IEEE Spectrum, October 2002, Vol. 39, Number 10, pg. 28-33
Copyright 2008 Stephen J. Fonash
We can now see what we have made!
We can even routinely see atoms now!
Copyright 2008 Stephen J. Fonash
• The next view graph shows 48 atoms that have been dragged across a surface (itself, of course, made of atoms) and arranged into a circle (a corral). This arrangement has been given the name “Quantum Corral”.
• If you look closely, you can see the individual atoms of the corral, all of which are sitting on the underlying surface. If you look very closely, you also can see the atoms that make up that underlying surface.
• The dragging of the atoms and the imaging is done using a scanning tunneling microscope.
M.F. Crommie, C.P. Lutz, D.M. Eigler. Confinement of electrons to quantum corrals on a metal surface.Science 262, 218-220 (1993).
Quantum Corral
Copyright 2008 Stephen J. Fonash
• Because of the advances that have very recently been achieved in what we can make and what we can see, nanotechnology is now manufacturable. That is, nanotechnology can now produce things in huge numbers and economically--not just a few cups, windows, and plates for the very rich, as before.
• Because nanotechnology is now manufacturable, it can make products that will affect every man, woman, and child on the planet.
Copyright 2008 Stephen J. Fonash
Outline
1. Where does the word “nanotechnology” come from and what does it mean?
2. Some size rangesa) The macroscaleb) The microscalec) The nanoscale
3. Nanotechnology – “the builder’s final frontier”4. How old is nanotechnology?5. Why is nanotechnology taking off now?
a) We can now make small things controllably and repeatedlyb) We can now see what we made
6. Key ideas
Copyright 2008 Stephen J. Fonash
Key Ideas• The nano-scale refers to sizes from 1nm to
about 100nm (or from the size of a few atoms in a row to the size of a virus).
• Nanotechnology is the making and using of “things” which are in this size range.
• Nanotechnology is “the builders last frontier”.• Nanotechnology has actually been around
awhile – almost 2000 years !• Nanotechnology is emerging now because
1. We’ve learned how to see what we’ve made (to check it, understand and manipulate it).
2. We’ve learned how to make things that small with control and repeatability.
Copyright 2008 Stephen J. Fonash
• Because of the advances that have very recently been achieved in what we can make and what we can see, nanotechnology is now manufacturable.
• Nanotechnology can now produce things in huge numbers and economically.
Key Ideas (continued)
Copyright 2008 Stephen J. Fonash
This module, produced by the Center for Nanotechnology Education and Utilization at
The Pennsylvania State University, is one of a series developed to introduce nanotechnology and its applications to a broad audience. Each module, its component
viewgraphs, and the companion glossary are copyrighted 2008 by Stephen J. Fonash and
The Pennsylvania State University. All rights reserved.
This module series and companion glossary were created by: Prof. Stephen J. Fonash
with contributions from Amy Brunner, Dr. Shawn Keebaugh, Dr. Yinghui Shan, Dr. Wook Jun Nam, Dr. Huinan Liang,
Bill Mahoney, Robert Ehrmann, Lisa Daub and Darlene Fink.