Introduction to Nanotechnology Module #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 Foundation Grant # DUE and The Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development Grant # C 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.here Copyright 2008 Stephen J. Fonash

Outline 1.Where does the word “nanotechnology” come from and what does it mean? 2.Some size ranges a)The macroscale b)The microscale c)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 repeatedly b)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 ranges a)The macroscale b)The microscale c)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 repeatedly b)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 ranges a)The macroscale b)The microscale c)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 repeatedly b)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

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? Meter Size Range These are sizes we can see with just our eyes Millimeter Size Range These are sizes we can see with an optical microscope Micrometer Size Range Bigger objects in this range can be seen with an optical microscope. Smaller objects may need an electron microscope Nanometer Size Range Bigger objects can be seen with electron microscopes. Smaller objects require field emission electron or atomic force microscopes MACRO-SCALENANO-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 mm 100 µm 10 µm 1 µm 100 nm 10 nm 1 nm 100 pm Transistor of 2007 Human hair tissue Bacterium cell Human cell Virus Transistors of Years ago Protein Individual atom Drug moleculeQuantum 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 ranges a)The macroscale b)The microscale c)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 repeatedly b)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 frontier.” Richard Smalley 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 ranges a)The macroscale b)The microscale c)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 repeatedly b)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 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 th 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 ranges a)The macroscale b)The microscale c)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 repeatedly b)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

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, (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 ranges a)The macroscale b)The microscale c)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 repeatedly b)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.