Nanotechnology R&D impacts many industries

• Electronics• Materials• Health/Biotech• Chemical• Environmental• Energy• Aerospace• Automotive• Security• Forest products• Instrumentation

More Discussion on Nanotechnology Applications

Making Small SmallerAn Example: Electronics-Microprocessors

ibm.commacroscale

microscale

nanoscale

Electronics Keep On Getting BetterMoore's "Law": Number of Transistors per Microprocessor Chip

intel.com

Specialized Nano-Coatings

Inframat hardenedcoatings for Navyhigh-wear parts

Self-cleaning surfaces - like a Lotus leaf(ultrahydrophobic)

Biocompatible coatings for long lasting orthopedicjoints

Nano for Regenerative Medicine

Super Adhesives

Adhesive force of a single gecko foot-hair

Nature 405, 681-685 (8 June 2000)

Microfabricated Adhesive Mimicking Gecko Foot-Hair Nature Materials 2, 461-463 (2003)

Solar Cells and Integration of Nanotechnology

• Organic/Inorganic solar cells• Silicon solar cells are most common and

efficient right now.• Reflection of incoming light is a big

natural limitation for efficiency.

Konarka

Evergreen Solar, Inc. Marlboro, MA

Top side metallization gridSunlight

0.5 µm n+ emitterAverage phosphorus~1018cm-3

~100-300 µm Boron~1016cm-3p base

Optional p+ back surface diffusion

Back side metallization

Typical P-N Junction Silicon Solar Cell Structure

REFLECTION!

Anti-reflection coating

n0 n1 n2

14n

Incident wave Transmitted wave

R1

R2

201 nnn

Anti-Reflection Conditions

Pattern Transfer by Etching (Tunable Anti-Reflective Coating)

J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 20.6., Nov. Dec 2002

UMASS

Can work as an anti-reflective coating!

NNIN.ORG

Moth Eye

Source: http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2002/03/28_solar.html

Nano solar cell: Inorganic nanorods embedded in semiconducting polymer, sandwiched between two electrodes

] 200 nm

Other Nano-Solar CellsNano solar cells mixed in plastic could be painted on buses, roofs, and clothing!

Flat Panel Displays, Colorants, Smart Papers…(Photonic Crystals)

PHYSICAL REVIEW E 74, 021922 2006

Reflection from butterfly wings and beetle’s exocuticle

2 April 2007 / Vol. 15, No. 7 / OPTICS EXPRESS 4351

Quantum dots glow in UV light– Injected in mice, collect in tumors– Could locate as few as 10 to 100 cancer cells

Sources: http://vortex.tn.tudelft.nl/grkouwen/qdotsite.htmlhttp://www.whitaker.org/news/nie2.html

Early tumor detection, studied in mice

Quantum Dots: Nanometer-sized crystals that contain free electrons and emit photons when submitted to UV light

Nanogold

Disease Detection (Using Quantum Dots)

Gold Color ?

Some resources on nano applications

http://www.nanotechproject.org/index.php?id=44&action=intro

The Woodrow Wilson Center consumer product inventory

The Nano 50 awards

http://www.nanotechbriefs.com/nano50_winners.html

http://www.smalltimes.com/

Small Times magazine