NANOTECHNOLOGY BACKGROUND

Introduction and Overview

Nanotechnology is defined as the study of the fundamental laws and theories of atoms
and structures that have critical dimensions between 1 and 100 nanometers. But why is
nanotechnology so unique? Chemists study elements and molecules with dimensions much
smaller than nanometers, and chemistry has been around for hundreds of years. Yet here is the
crux of the importance and splendor of nanotechnology. Chemists study particles and atoms and
molecules that are found throughout nature, yet nanoscientists are able to use the molecules and
elements from chemistry and engineer them to form different useful, incredibly small tools. The
nanometer is at the conflux of human synthetic ability and natural occurring molecules.
Anything that is smaller than a nanometer is just a vagrant molecule or random speck, so
structures on the nanoscale are the smallest structures that humans can possibly make. So while
it is possible to observe and define materials smaller than a nanometer, it is impossible to
fabricate materials any smaller. As we delve deeper and deeper into the mysterious realms of
nanotechnology, we find that things are not the same very small as they are on a normal scale.
For example, this is a gear constructed on the nanoscale. It is about 425 micrometers small. Not
quite on the nanoscale, but it still works. This gear works similarly to a normal gear you see, say
perhaps on a bike. It can rotate, spin, drive, or give mechanical advantage. However, the
material properties that you worry with a normal gear are quite different then the properties that
are prevalent in a micro-scale gear. With macro-size gears forces such as friction, hardness, and
heat transfer are all important in considering the design and engineering of the gear. When
structures are on the nanoscale, there is so little surface contact between materials that friction
and heat transfer are almost non-existent. However, forces that have little effect on the macro-
gear have a tremendous impact on how the nano-gear works. However, properties such as
molecular polarity and wave-particle duality are examples of a few of these. Also, factors such
as wind and water contact have little impact on bicycles gears, but can be disastrous to a nano-
sized gear.
The Science behind Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology draws from disciplines such as chemistry, physics, mechanics, biology,
and material science. It is important to have a basic idea of the concepts behind each of these
disciplines.

The Atomic Level

All describable matter in the universe is comprised of three basic particles: the proton,
neutron, and electron. While there are sub-atomic particles (quarks, leptons and the like)
protons, neutrons, and electrons represent the simplest particles required to describe matter.
Electrons are extremely light particles--electron mass is often disregarded entirely—that have a
negative charge. Protons are positively charged particles found in the nucleus, or center, of an
atom. Neutrons are similar to protons in size but have no charge. Protons and neutrons make up
the nucleus of the atom, while electrons orbit the nucleus. When two particles are close to each
other, they interact by one of the most fundamental laws of nature know as Coulomb's law. By
definition, two charged particles separated by distance r, the force acting between them is given
as

F=QiQ2/r

In this case, F is the force that is acting between the particles separated by distance r.
The charges on the two particles are Q1, Q2. Note that if the two particles are both electrons, then
the force will be positive. Positive forces imply that the two particles push away from each
other, much like two north ends of a magnet. Likewise, a positively charged proton and a
negatively charged electron have a negative force and therefore are attracted to each other. This
explains how an atom is held together. Note also that the farther away two particles are (r gets
bigger), the smaller the force acting on them. Coulomb's Law helps us explain why particles do
what they do, and how atoms are held together.

There are a total of 91 naturally occurring elements in our world, and they differ in the
number of protons, neutrons, and electrons. Together in different combinations, they make up all
natural matter in our world. The size of natural atoms are essentially the same, with the smallest
being .1 nanometer, and the biggest being .22 nanometers. In an uncharged atom, the number of
protons equals the number of electrons, thereby making the entire atom's charge neutral.
However, often times protons and electrons differ in number, thereby giving the atom a positive
or negative charge. For example, if an atom has 3 protons and 4 electrons, it has a net charge of -
1. These charged atoms are called ions, and they play an extremely important role in science.

How can 91 different atoms make up the myriad of forms of matter we see every day in
our world? The answer is in the structure and combination of the atoms. When two different
atoms combine in a fixed structure, the result is called a molecule. There are millions of
different atom combinations, and therefore millions of different molecules. Atoms bond to form
molecules by a variety of chemical ways. Chemical bonds such as covalent and ionic bonds are
a key aspect of nanotechnology. Nanotechnologists can manipulate different molecules and
bonds to form a certain desired function or structure. Because this is such a small scale, a
chemical bond or reaction just might be the rotating gear or the moving lever that allow
nanostructures to function properly. It is these structures that allow for different fabrication
techniques, and the most interesting is "self-assembly" which allows molecule structures to form
on their own.

The Macroscopic Level

Most of the 91 naturally occurring elements like to cluster with their own kind, and this
process makes macro structures that contain billions and billions of structures of the same atom.
Many of these large structures (relative to the nano scale that is) become hard, shiny, ductile
structures called metals. We are all familiar with metals such as aluminum, titanium, gold,
copper, silver, and different alloys. The unique aspects of metals are their ability to conduct
electricity. This happens because the metals' electrons leave their individual atoms and flow
freely throughout the metal structure as a whole. Power lines, extension cords, and speaker wires
are all examples of this concept. The huge groups of atoms that are not metals are usually lighter
such as: graphite, coal, diamonds, and yellow sulfur. These materials are mostly insulators
because they do not allow the free flow of electrons.

Another two types of materials worth mentioning are polymers and ceramics. The most
common polymers are plastics, which we obviously deal with everyday in many different
structures and functions. Polymers are extremely long chains of carbon bonded to itself. They
can be classified into two categories: crosslinked polymers and amorphous polymers.
Crosslinked polymers are polymers that tend to connect to one another in parallel and represent
the more rigid structures such as Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC piping); whereas amorphous polymers
are polymers that wrap like spaghetti, forming pliable and rubbery materials such as a styrofoam
cup. The naturally occurring polymers are substances such as DNA molecules, proteins, and
polysaccharides. Polymers generally do not conduct electricity and are commonly used as
insulators. Ceramics on the other hand are materials containing oxides, which are materials
where there is one extending atom that is oxygen. Examples of ceramics include: clay, sand,
firebrick, and a more commonly a toilet. Ceramics are also poor at conducting and are therefore
used as insulators (although some ceramics can become superconductors if super-cooled).

Biosystems

Our bodies are interesting in the fact that they need many different trace elements such as
zinc, copper, iodine, manganese, and selenium. However, around 95 percent of our bodies
contain the four elements hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen. These four elements can
form many varieties of bond types; therefore nature can use them to make many different
nanostructures that carry out the complex processes of life. The polymers made by these natural
processes are usually more complex, irregular polymers. There are four large categories of
biological molecules: nucleic acids, proteins, carbohydrates, and a catchall category which are
specialized molecules. Of course proteins and protein variations carry out most of the functions
of our life processes; therefore they act as bio-machines. Nucleic acids come in two main types:
DNA and RNA. DNA is a well known double-helix structure that is probably the most
important part of our bodies because it contains the code that controls all of the functions that are
cells carry out every second. DNA contains four different base pairs: Adenine, Guanine,
Cytosine, and Thymine (abbreviated A, G, C, and T respectively). These bases always form
pairs with A and G always pairing together and C and T always pairing together (this property
allows for many applications at the nano level as discussed later). The sequence of these pairs
makes a readable code that is transported by RNA to the ribosomes within a cell. The ribosome
will then make a certain protein that will carry out a certain function to continue the process of
life. The next big class of macromolecules in biology is polysaccharides, which are long chains
which form sugars. These sugars give the cells the energy they need to perform certain
functions, however they have not been found to have a major use in nanotechnology. The fourth
large classification is a sort of catchall category. This includes molecules we are all familiar
with such as: water, carbon dioxide, oxygen, and nitric oxide. These small molecules perform
many functions vital to survival and can have many applications in medical nanotechnology.

U.S. National Library of Medicine

Molecular Recognition

This is where all of the above information comes together, well mostly. Molecules have
certain shapes and charges, and this means that the molecules will be made of different numbers
of electrons and have different electron masses. Also, Coulomb's law describes the attraction of
oppositely charged particles, and this means that molecules have the ability to interact with one
another through Coulombic forces. Many of the functions of our bodies are based on molecular
recognition such as: allergies, olfactory sense, and pheromones. Molecular recognition is very
important as we will learn later because of the ability to build nanostructures from the "bottom-
up." That is using the properties of molecular recognition to allow the molecules to arrange
themselves or at least only provide a certain structure or mold that they can follow. Here is a
macroscale example, [Insert Analogy]

Electrical Conduction

This is one of the most interesting fundamentals of nanotechnology. Biologically, all of

the processes that take place in our bodies are a result of nerve impulses. These impulses are
caused by electrical impulses traveling down a nerve axon and in most cases causing a
neurotransmitter to release and a certain function to be performed. These electrical impulses are
extremely crucial not only to our bodies, but in our everyday lives. Electrical conductance
allows power to be delivered to our houses, cell phones, and any other object that requires energy
to work on. As mentioned above, metals are extremely great conductors, most commonly
copper. The defining equation for most cases of electricity evaluation is Ohm's Law:

V = I*R

A common analogy used for this concept is a river. I represents the flow of electrons, or current,
and correlates with the flow of water down the river. R represents the resistance to the flow of
electrons, or resistance, and correlates with rocks or maybe a dam that resists the flow of water
down a river. Then of course V represents the force that moves the current of electrons, or
voltage, and correlates with gravity or a pump that pushes the water down a river. This law is
obeyed in most common circuits, however there are circuits that do not obey this law. These
circuits fall into categories such as superconductors and semiconductors. These are circuit
elements in which there is effectively no resistance and allow for maximum power usage and
transfer. There are also certain nanostructures such as carbon nanotubes that are found to at least
be semiconductors, which lead to exciting and interesting applications for these structures.

Quantum Theory

Newtonian physics guides the motion and properties of every object that we can see and
experience at the macro scale. But there are other laws for governing motion at the nanoscale
and below. Atoms and electrons do not act like we normally predict. Electrons have a unique
property because they act both like a wave and a particle (wave-particle duality). So the ideas of
classical mechanics have been replaced by a newer theory called quantum mechanics. We will
not go into the extent of this theory, but we will discuss the main ideas and the important parts as
they apply to nanotechnology. First off, at this scale energy cannot be added in a continuous
way, it must be added in small chunks referred to as quanta (plural of quantum). For example, to
change the charge on an ion, it can only be done one electron unit charge at a time. This theory
governs nanoscale properties such as: how small a wire can be and still carry electrical charge,
or how much energy we have to put into a molecule before it can change its charge state or act as
a memory element.

Optics

This section describes how light interacts with matter. For example, the large molecule
called phthalocyanine, which provides the blue color in jeans, can be changed to give greenish or
purplish colors by modifying the chemical or geometric structure of the molecule. Matter can
also transfer heat like a black car on a sunny day, or give off light energy like a light bulb or
fireworks. Another property worth mentioning is that the smaller the metallic object, the quanta
of energy that apply to them become larger.
Nanoscience Measuring Tools

In order to work at the nano-scale, scientists and engineers must be able to observe and
measure what they are working with. There are a variety of different tools which are used to
accomplish these goals on the nanoscale.

• Scanning Probe Instruments: One of the most common forms of measuring

nanostructures is using scanning probe instruments. In all
scanning probe instruments, a nanoscale sized probe, or
tip, slides across the surface to be measured. As the tip
slides, different materials exert different forces on the tip,
and computer software is able to tell where one material
starts and the other stops. Think of running your finger
across a metal plate and then across a rough piece of
wood, it is quite easy to tell the difference. As the probe
moves across the surface, it can measure a number of different forces. Atomic force
microscopy (AFM) measures the actual physical force of the tip on the surface, much like
the finger on the wood. Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) measures the amount of
electrical current between the tip and surface. Magnetic force microscopy (MFM)
employs a magnetic tip that reads the magnetic structure of the surface.

• Spectroscopy: One of the oldest and most general techniques is a concept called
spectroscopy. As the name infers, spectroscopy employs light in its measurements. We
all have seen examples of a type of spectroscopy in the macro-world. X-ray machines
pass extremely high energy light waves through an object and read the resulting
scattering of the waves due to different materials. By using different energies of light,
nanoscientists can analyze nanostructures. However, spectroscopy does have its
drawbacks. Because visible light has a constant wavelength, it is impossible to measure
objects that are smaller than that wavelength. Since the visible light wavelength ranges
from about 400 nanometers to 900 nanometers, it is difficult to measure objects that are
only a few nanometers in size. Because of these limitations, spectroscopy is generally
employed in measuring nanostructures as a group.

Electrochemistry: The concept of electrochemistry refers to how the application of electric

current can change different chemical reactions and processes, and how chemical reactions can
generate electric currents. This technique is common in nanofabrication, but can also be useful
in nanostructure analysis. Instruments can analyze the different electrochemical properties of
different materials in order to measure or observe them.