Importance of metrology in developing nanotehnologies Alina Catrinel Ion Universitatea Politehnica Bucuresti

What is nanometrology? Science of measurement at the nanoscale level Includes length or size measurements (where dimensions are given in nanometres and the measurement uncertainty is often less than 1 nm) Includes also measurement of force, mass, electrical and other properties

What is special about nanometrology? It must be seen as indispensable part of all kinds of nanotechnology; Precise control of dimensions of objects is a key issue of nanotechnology; Special protocols for nanostructures and nanomaterials must be developed; Standards have to be developed to match technology advances and support the increasing applications of nanostructures.

Standards and standardisation for nanotechnologies International formal standards by ISO, IEC, ITU European formal standards by CEN, CENELEC and ETSI National formal standards outside Europe National formal standards in Europe

Standardization in nanotechnologies Understanding and control of matter and processes at the nanoscale, below 100 nm in one or more dimensions where size-dependent phenomena usually enables novel applications; Utilizing the properties of nanoscale materials that differ from the properties of individual atoms, molecules, to create improved materials, devices and systems that exploit these new properties.

Specific tasks include developing standards for: Terminology and nomenclature Metrology and instrumentation Specifications for reference materials Test methodologies Modeling and simulations Science-based health, safety and environmental practices

ISO TC 229 Nanotechnologies, 2005 TC 229/WG 1 Terminology and nomenclature TC 229/WG 2 Measurement and characterization TC 229/WG 3 Health, Safety and Environmental Aspects of Nanotechnologies

Standards under development, WG 2, Measurement and characterization ISO TS Use of Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) in the characterization of Single Walled Carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) ISO TS Use of Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) in characterization of nanostructures ISO TS Use of UV-Vis-NIR absorption spectroscopy in the characterization of nanostructures ISO TSxxx

National standardization in Europe Germany (DIN), United Kingdom (BSI), France (AFNOR), The Netherlands (NEN) have TC on nanotechnologies to mirror European and International standardization In Czech Republic (CNI) a nanotechnology TC is in foundation.

Where is Romania? The existing facilities in nanometrology techniques are dispersed among research institutes and research groups in universities; Attempts to group them in a network exist- MINAMAT-NET-Characterization of materials and structures for Micro and Nanoengineering.

What to do ? To establish a network of laboratories with complementary facilities; inter laboratory comparison of physical and chemical nanometrology techniques used in the characterization of the same kind of nanomaterial; To actively participate in adapting existing nanometrology techniques, developing new ones, coordinated by competent bodies and cooperating with standardization entities; Reinforcing these activities by EU projects.

And more?

Problems in chemical characterization of nanostructures

Challenge in nanometrology techniques Instrumental spectroscopy methods such as: nuclear magnetic resonance, infrared spectroscopy or mass spectrometry can not be really applied in questions of nanoscience and nanotechnology because they intrinsically lack spatial resolution.

Challenge in nanometrology techniques Techniques with nanoscale lateral resolution, such as: standard atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), typically give very little or no chemical information at all.

Challenge in nanometrology techniques There is currently a lack of methods capable of chemical diagnostics and characterization in particular of the molecular composition of such nano objects.