4007 SS Physics
Nanoscience
15 lectures + 3 tutorials
Dr Pete Nellist (coordinator)
nellistp@tcd.ie
13 lectures + 2 tutorials
Prof Suzi Jarvis
Biological nanomaterials
1 lecture
Prof John Boland
Mechanical properties
1 lecture
Books:
•Introduction to Nanotechnology, Poole and Owens (Wiley)
•Quantum Mechanics, McMurry
•Quantum Semiconductor Structures, Weisbuch and Vintner (AP)
Timetable (subject to change)
Lectures are at:
Tuesdays 5 pm in the Schroedinger Lecture Theatre.
Wednesdays 4 pm in the SNIAM Physics Lecture Theatre.
Date
25 January
Lecturer
No lecture
All tutorials will be in the Trinity term.
Nellist Lectures
• Combination of figures on Powerpoint and handwritten
notes.
– Copies of handwritten notes will not be provided, so keep notes
during the lectures.
• Powerpoint presentations can be found at:
http://www.tcd.ie/Physics/People/Pete.Nellist/
Why nanoscience?
• Nanoscience (nanotechnology) is usually defined as
being based on structures 1-100nm in dimension.
– Typical interatomic spacing ~0.2nm, so can consist of a few tens
to hundreds of millions of atoms.
• Feynman talk “There’s plenty of room at the bottom”
(www.zyvex.com/nanotech/feynman.html).
– He is mainly discussing minaturization
– Also can exploit quantum effects.
Moore’s law
Gordon Moore
1929-
• Moore’s law: The number of transistors on a chip
doubles every two years.
– Transistor dimensions are now as small as 65 nm, so this is
nanotechnology rather than microtechnology.
Single atoms
• These are Fe atoms
positioned on a Cu
surface.
– They were positioned
using a scanning
tunnelling microscope
(STM).
– Don Eigler at IBM.
Metal nanoparticles
2 nm
2 nm
Metal nanoparticles and single atoms
a
b
d
c
D
B
C
A
A u cryst.
D
C
1.4 Å
10 Å
2 m onolayers
1.0 Å
1 m onolayer
(single atom
0 and raft)
Multiply twinned particles
• Often nanoparticles are multiply twinned.
– This is done to minimise the surface energy.
Catalysts
At the nanoscale, physics and chemistry converge
The Lycurgus Cup
• The Lycurgus Cup is unusual in that the reflected light colour (green)
is different to the colour of transmitted light (red).
• The reason is that the glass contains 70 nm diameter nanoparticles
of gold.
– Nanoparticles of gold can appear to have different colours depending on
their size.
Buckminsterfullerene
• A carbon-60 molecule.
– C60 is also known as Buckminsterfullerene (buckyballs).
– Other similar molecules (such as C70) exist.
• When doped with alkali metals, the resulting structure can act as a
superconductor.
Carbon nanotubes
• Discovered by Sumio
Iijima in 1991.
– S. Iijima, Nature 354
(1991) 56.
• They can be metallic or
semiconducting.
• They are mechanically
extremely strong.
– Use for composites?
Inorganic nanowire ropes
• These are ropes about
10 nm in diameter.
• They are made from
individual chain
molecules of Mo6S4.5I4.5.
– The individual chains can
be seen in the image.
• These ropes are thought
to have metallic
properties.
Quantum Dots
• Show zero-dimensional
quantum effects.
• Many optical applications
– quantum lasers
– light emitting diodes
– single electron transistors
Quantum wells
• Also optically important
– For example infra-red detectors
• Can also have quantum wires
Biological Macromolecules
Five Bakers Dancing!
DNA
Dioxy Ribonucleic Acid
 Is sometime made synthetically for use as a nanostructure.
Spintronics
Hard disk read/write head.