Overview and
Introduction to Nanotechnology:
What, Why and How
Mark Tuominen
Professor of Physics
Jonathan Rothstein
Professor of Mechanical Eng.
"NSEC"
NSF Center for Hierarchical
Manufacturing
A Center on Nanomanufacturing at UMass
Research
Education
Outreach
Supported by the
National Science Foundation
Next Generation Science
Standards (NGSS):
Three Pillars
• Disciplinary Core Ideas
• Science and Engineering Practices
• Crosscutting Concepts
STEM Careers
- Currently, there are 14 million people
unemployed people in the U.S. and 3
million unfilled STEM jobs -- There is a
STEM skills gap!
U.S. News & World Report STEM Solutions 2012 Leadership Summit:
http://usnewsstemsolutions.com/ June 27-29, 2012
STEM Skills
- Mathematical literacy
- Ability to apply STEM knowledge to
real-world situations
- There are many technician-level jobs
- Need many STEM-skilled people for
sophisticated jobs in manufacturing
- Typically, students are not aware of the
types of jobs a STEM education can
lead to
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.caredit.a1200076 Michael Price July 6, 2012
Nanotechnology
The biggest science initiative since
the Apollo program
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology is the understanding
and control of matter at dimensions of
roughly 1 to 100 nanometers, where
unique phenomena enable novel
applications.
1 nanometer = 1 billionth of a meter
= 1 x 10-9 m
nano.gov
How small are nanostructures?
Single Hair
Width = 0.1 mm
= 100 micrometers
= 100,000 nanometers !
Smaller still
Hair
6,000 nanometers
DNA
.
100,000
nanometers
10 nm objects
made by guided
self-assembly
3 nanometers
The Scale of Things – Nanometers and More
Things Natural
Things Manmade
10-2 m
10-3 m
200 mm
Fly ash
~ 10-20 mm
Microworl
d
10-4 m
-5
10 m
Red blood cells
(~7-8 mm)
The Challenge
1,000,000 nanometers =
1 millimeter (mm)
MicroElectroMechanical
(MEMS) devices
10 -100 mm wide
0.1 mm
100 mm
O
0.01 mm
10 mm
Infrared
Dust mite
Human hair
~ 60-120 mm wide
Head of a pin
1-2 mm
Microwave
Ant
~ 5 mm
1 cm
10 mm
1,000 nanometers =
1 micrometer (mm)
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
Zone plate x-ray “lens”
Outer ring spacing ~35 nm
Visible
10-6 m
Pollen grain
Red blood cells
P
O
10-8 m
~10 nm diameter
ATP synthase
0.1 mm
100 nm
Ultraviolet
Nanoworl
d
10-7 m
Fabricate and combine
nanoscale building
blocks to make useful
devices, e.g., a
photosynthetic reaction
center with integral
semiconductor storage.
0.01 mm
10 nm
Self-assembled,
Nature-inspired structure
Many 10s of nm
Nanotube electrode
10-9 m
Soft x-ray
1 nanometer (nm)
DNA
~2-1/2 nm diameter
Atoms of silicon
spacing 0.078 nm
10-10 m
0.1 nm
Quantum corral of 48 iron atoms on copper surface
positioned one at a time with an STM tip
Corral diameter 14 nm
Carbon
buckyball
~1 nm
diameter
Carbon nanotube
~1.3 nm diameter
Office of Basic Energy Sciences
Office of Science, U.S. DOE
Version 05-26-06, pmd
Applications of
Nanotechnology
First, One Example: iPod Data Storage Capacity
10 GB
2001
20 GB
2002
40 GB
2004
80 GB
2006
160 GB
2007
Hard drive
Magnetic data storage
Uses nanotechnology!
Hard Disk Drives - a home for bits
Hitachi
Magnetic Data Storage
A computer hard drive stores your data magnetically
“Read”
Head
“Write”
Head
Signal
current
magnets
S
N
N
S
0
1
Disk
0
0
1
0
0
1
direction of disk motion
1
0
_
_
“Bits” of
information
Improving Magnetic Data Storage Technology
• The UMass Amherst Center for Hierarchical
Manufacturing is working to improve this
technology
coil
1 bit
Perpendicular
Write Head
Granular Media
Soft Magnetic UnderLayer (SUL)
Y. Sonobe, et al., JMMM (2006)
• CHM Goal: Make "perfect" media
using self-assembled nano-templates
• Also, making new designs for storage
Applications of Nanotechnology
Since the 1980's electronics has been a leading
commercial driver for nanotechnology R&D, but other areas
(materials, biotech, energy, and others) are of significant
and growing importance.
Some applications of nanotechnology has been around for
a very long time already:
• Stained glass windows (Venice, Italy) - gold
nanoparticles
• Photographic film - silver nanoparticles
• Tires - carbon black nanoparticles
• Catalytic converters - nanoscale coatings of platinum
and palladium
Why do we want to make
things at the nanoscale?
• To make better products: smaller, cheaper,
faster and more effective. (Electronics, catalysts,
water purification, solar cells, coatings, medical
diagnostics & therapy, and more -- a sustainable
future!)
• To discover completely new physical
phenomena to science and technology.
(Quantum behavior and other effects.)
The National Nanotechnology Initiative
nano.gov - the website of the NNI
Types of Nanostructures
and How They Are Made
"Nanostructures"
Nano-objects
"nanoparticle"
Nanostructured Materials
"nanorod"
"nanofilm"
"nanotube"
and more
nanoscale outer
dimensions
nanoscale internal
structure
Nanoscale Devices and Systems
Integrated nano-objects and materials
Making Nanostructures:
Nanomanufacturing
"Top down" versus "bottom up" methods
•Lithography
•Deposition
•Etching
•Machining
•Chemical
•Self-Assembly
Some nanomaterials are just alternate
arrangements of well-known materials
Carbon materials
2010 Nobel Prize!
Nanofilms
Nanofilm on plastic
Gold-coated plastic for
insulation purposes
Nanofilm on glass
"Low-E" windows: a thin
metal layer on glass:
blocks UV and IR light
A nanofilm method:
Thermal Evaporation
Vaporization or sublimation of a
heated material onto a substrate
in a vacuum chamber
sample QCM
film
vapor
Au, Cr, Al, Ag, Cu, SiO, others
Pressure is held low
to prevent contamination!
There are many other
thin film manufacturing
techniques
vacuum
~10-7 torr
source
heating source
vacuum
pump
Patterning: Photolithography
process recipe
spin coating
substrate
apply
spin
bake
spin on resist
resist
expose
mask (reticle)
exposed
unexposed
"scission"
develop
narrow trench
etch
deposit
liftoff
narrow line
Patterning: Imprint Lithography
• Thermal Imprint Lithography
– Emboss pattern into thermoplastic or thermoset with heating
• UV-Assisted Imprint Lithography
– Curing polymer while in contact with hard, transparent mold
Release
Mold Template
Polymer or Prepolymer
Substrate
Imprint
Pressure
Heat or Cure
Limits of Lithography
• Complex devices need to be
patterned several times
 Takes time and is expensive
• Limited by wavelength of light
 Deep UV ~ 30nm features
• Can use electrons instead
 1nm features possible
 MUCH slower than optical
IBM - Copper Wiring
On a Computer Chip
Self
Assembly
An Early Nanotechnologist?
Excerpt from Letter of Benjamin Franklin to William Brownrigg (Nov. 7, 1773)
...At length being at Clapham, where there is, on the Common, a large
Pond ... I fetched out a Cruet of Oil, and dropt a little of it on the Water. I
saw it spread itself with surprising Swiftness upon the Surface ... the Oil
tho' not more than a Tea Spoonful ... which spread amazingly, and
extended itself gradually till it reached the Lee Side, making all that
Quarter of the Pond, perhaps half an Acre, as smooth as a Looking
Glass....
A nanofilm!
"Quantum Dots" by
Chemical Synthesis
(reverse-micelle method)
"Synthesis and Characterization of Nearly
Monodisperse Semiconductor Nanocrystallites,"
C. Murray, D. Norris, and M. Bawendi, J. Am.
Chem. Soc. 115, 8706 (1993)
Color is determined by particle size!
Interaction with Light
E = hf
420 THz
750 THz
a
"Artificial atom"
Many applications: solar cells, biomarkers, lighting, and more!
Immiscibility and phase separation:
Driven by intermolecular interactions
Polymer mixture
Olive oil
Balsamic
vinegar
Thermodynamically driven
SELF ASSEMBLY with DIBLOCK COPOLYMERS
Block “B”
PS
Block “A”
PMMA
~10 nm
Scale set by molecular size
Ordered Phases
10% A
30% A
50% A
70% A
90% A
Nanomagnets in a Self-Assembled Polymer Mask
nanoporous template
1x1012 magnets/in2
Data Storage...
...and More
Conducting Nanowires from Bacteria
Bacterium Cell:
Geobacter
Sulfurreducens
Bacterial “Nanowires”
Nature Nanotechnology 6, 573-579 (2011)
A Few More Applications
of Nanotechnology
Solar Cells
Benefit: Sun is an unlimited source of electronic energy.
Konarka
Electric Solar Cells
p-n junction interface
Sunlight
-
cross-sectional view
0.5 Volt
n-type silicon
p-type silicon
- - - -- -
+ + + ++ +
The electric power produced is
proportional to the area of the
solar cell
--
++
Voltage
Current
“load”
+
Nanostructured Solar Cells
Sunlight
Voltage
More interface area - More power!
Current
“load”
+
Nanomedicine: Tumor-targeted Cancer Therapy
C&EN News June 4, 2012
Nanospectra Biosciences
C&EN News June 4, 2012
Nanotechnology is an example of
Interdisciplinary Collaboration at work
People from diverse fields working together -- more
rapidly solving important problems in our society
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Physics
Chemistry
Biology
Materials Science
Polymer Science
Electrical Engineering
Chemical Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Medicine
And others
• Electronics
• Materials
• Health/Biotech
• Chemical
• Environmental
• Energy
• Food
• Aerospace
• Automotive
• Security
• Forest products
A Message for Students
- Nanotechnology is changing
practically every part of our lives. It
is a field for people who want to
solve technological challenges facing
societies across the world.
- There are well-paying, interesting
jobs – technician, engineer, scientist,
manufacturing, sales, and others.