Introduction to Nanotechnology

and Application
Elective: PHY 708, 3 Credit Hours

Instructor: Dr. Mian Akif Safeen

Lecture
Fundamentals of
Nanotechnology
Recommended Books
 1. Introduction to Nanotechnology, Charles Poole Jr., F. J. Owens, John Wiley &
Sons, Inc., 2003.
2. Nanophysics and Nanotechnology: An Introduction to Modern Concepts in
Nanoscience, Edward L. Wolf, Wiley-VCH 2006.
3. Nanostructuresand nanomaterials, synthesis, properties and applications, Cao,
Guozhong, ImperialCollegePress, 2004.
4. Nanostructured materials, processing, properties and potential applications, Carl
C.Koch, Noyes publications, William Andrew publishing, NY, USA, 2002.
5. Environmental application of nanomaterials, GlenEFryxell, Cao,Guozhong,Imperial
CollegePress, 2007.
6. The Physics of Semiconductors: An Introduction including Devices and
Nanophysics, Marius Grundmann, Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg, Germany,
2006.
7. Nanoscale Science and Technology, Eds. R. W. Kelsall, I. W. Hamley and M.
Geoghegan, John Wiley & Sons, 2005.
8. Nanotechnology, B. S. Murty, James Murday, and P. Shankar, Springer, 2012.

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How Small is Nano?
Nano:
From the Greek nanos - meaning
“dwarf ”,
this prefix is used in the metric system
to mean 10-9 or 1/1,000,000,000.

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How Small is Nano?

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How Small is Nano?

 One nanometer (nm) is one billionth, or 10-9

of a meter
 One human hair (cross section) is about
100,000 nanometers.
 Larger than Nanoscale is the microscale, and
smaller than that is the atomic scale.

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Going into Nanoscale

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How Big is ’nano’?
 One human hair
(cross section) is
about 100,000
nanometers

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 What is Nanotechnology?
 Nanotechnology is the creation of functional
materials, devices, and systems through control of
matter on the nanometer (1 to 100 nm) length scale
and the exploitation of novel properties and
phenomena developed at that scale.
 The control and manipulation of matter on an atomic
and molecular scale

Nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) are a class of devices integrating

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electrical and mechanical functionality on the nanoscale.
 What is Nanophysics?
 Nanophysics is the physics of structures and
artefacts with dimensions in the nanometer
range or of phenomena occurring in
nanoseconds
 To predict the behavior of matter on this invisible
(nano) scale.
 Physical behavior at the nanometer scale is
accurately predicted by Quantum Mechanics,
represented by Schrodinger’s equation
“quantitative understanding of the structure and
properties of matter”

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Why is this length scale so important?
There are five reasons:
 The wavelike properties of electrons inside matter are
influenced by variations on the nanometer scale. By
patterning matter on the nanometer length, it is possible
to vary fundamental properties of materials (for instance,
melting temperature, magnetization, charge capacity)
without changing the chemical composition.
 The systematic organization of matter on the nanometer
length scale is a key feature of biological systems.
Nanotechnology promises to allow us to place artificial
components and assemblies inside cells, and to make
new materials using the self-assembly methods of
nature.
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Why is this length scale so important?
 Nanoscale components have very high surface
areas, making them ideal for use in composite
materials, reacting systems, drug delivery, and
energy storage.
 The finite size of material entities, as compared to the
molecular scale, determine an increase of the relative
importance of diffusion phenomenon, making
nanostructured materials harder and less brittle.
 The interaction wavelength scales of various external
wave phenomena become comparable to the
material entity size, making materials suitable for
various optoelectronic applications.

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 Physical Properties Change
Size-dependence of Melting Temperature
Melting Point (Microscopic Definition)
Temperature at which the atoms,
ions, or molecules in a substance
have enough energy to overcome the
intermolecular forces that hold them
in a “fixed” position in a solid
 Surface atoms require less
energy to move because they
are in contact with fewer atoms
of the substance

Ph. Buffat and J-P. Borel, Phys. Rev. A13,

2287 (1976)

In contact with 3 atoms

In contact with 7 atoms 13

Electrical Properties Example:
Conductivity of Nanotubes
 Nanotubes are long, thin cylinders of carbon
 They are 100 times stronger than steel, very flexible, and have

unique electrical properties

 Their electrical properties change with diameter, “twist”, and number
of walls
 They can be either conducting or semi-conducting in their

electrical behavior

Electric current
varies by tube
structure

Multi-walled
CNT’s
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 Optical Properties Example: Gold
 Bulk gold appears yellow in color
 Nanosized gold appears red in color
 The particles are so small that electrons are not
free to move about as in bulk gold
 Because this movement is restricted, the particles
react differently with light

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Example: Size Dependence of Color
Powdered

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 Potential Applications in Health:
Zinc Oxide (ZnO)
 Large ZnO particles
 Block UV light
 Scatter visible light
 Appear white
 Nanosized ZnO particles Nanoscale ZnO
sunscreen is clear
 Block UV light “Traditional” ZnO
sunscreen is white
 So small compared to the
wavelength of visible light that
they don’t scatter it
 Appear clear
 Application to sunscreen Zinc oxide nanoparticles

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Biomedical
 Antibacterial silver coatings on wound dressings.
 Sensors for disease detection (quantum dots).
 Programmed release drug delivery systems.
 “interactive” food and beverages that change colour,
flavour or nutrients depending on a diner’s taste or health.

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Nanomaterials in Construction

The construction business will

predictably be a beneficiary of this
nanotechnology

•Concrete will be more stronger, more

durable and more easily placed
•Steel is made tougher
•Glass is self-cleaning
•Paints are made more insulating and
water repelling
•Improve service life and flammability
performance of building materials

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Summary of the Properties

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 How Can We See Small Things?
Beyond the Magnifying Glass

Surface Topography
Morphology
How it looks! Composition
Crystallographic Information

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Evolution of Nanotechnology
 [1959] There’s plenty of room at the bottom,
Nobel Laureate Richard Feynman’s talk, APS
Annual meeting, Cal Tech (1959)
I want to build a billion tiny factories, models of each other, which
are manufacturing simultaneously. . . The principles of physics, as
far as I can see, do not speak against the possibility of
maneuvering things atom by atom. It is not an attempt to violate
any laws; it is something, in principle, that can be done; but in
practice, it has not been done because we are too big.

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 The term Nanotechnology was first used in 1974 by
Norio Taniguchi to refer to a precise and accurate
tolerances required for machining and finishing.
 [1980s] Eric Drexler first coined the term
Nanotechnology; Authored Engines of Creation
 [1986] Invention of Scanning Tunneling
Microscope (STM)
 Discovery of fullerenes (1986) and carbon
nanotubes (1991)
 Since then, many developed countries have
programs in place addressing issues related to
nanoscience and nanotechnology

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Health Risks

 Ultrafine particles can catalyze chemical

reactions in the body
 Carbon nanotubes can cause infections of
lungs
 They could easily cross the blood-brain
barrier, a membrane that protects the brain
from harmful chemicals in the bloodstream.

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Social & Ethical Risks

 More powerful weapons

 Privacy
 What happens to all the manufacturing jobs?

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