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Thinking Small: An Introduction to Nanotechnology

Patrick Pilarski 3 rd June 2005. Thinking Small: An Introduction to Nanotechnology. Thinking about Shrinking. How tiny are these things? Getting small: Microtechnology Some Micro-motion examples How do we build and power them? Getting smaller: Nanotechnology The worlds smallest motors

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Thinking Small: An Introduction to Nanotechnology

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  1. Patrick Pilarski 3rd June 2005 Thinking Small:An Introduction to Nanotechnology

  2. Thinking about Shrinking • How tiny are these things? • Getting small: Microtechnology • Some Micro-motion examples • How do we build and power them? • Getting smaller: Nanotechnology • The worlds smallest motors • Borrowing from biology • Bottom-up assembly

  3. 1000 microns = 1 millimetre An Idea of Scale: Micro • Features much smaller than a millimetre • Complex machines on the head of a pin Picture Courtesy: Dalhousie MEMS Research Groupmicron.me.dal.ca

  4. 1000 nanometres = 1 micron An Idea of Scale: Nano • 1 nanometre is one-billionth of a metre! • Approximately 10 atoms placed in a line • 1/100,000th the width of a human hair Picture Courtesy: Micralyne Inc. www.micralyne.com

  5. What is Microtechnology? • MEMS: Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems • Features on the scale of microns • First commercial MEMS device: • An airbag acceleration sensor Courtesy: Analog Devices Courtesy: Lucent

  6. Micro-Movement? • We can use comb drives! • Voltage makes combs to attract or repel Courtesy: Micralyne Inc. www.micralyne.com Courtesy: Holly Rourke

  7. Micro-Tweezers • Comb drives move the pincers! Courtesy: Micralyne Inc. www.micralyne.com

  8. Tiny Gears • MEMS gears allow the platform to spin • Do dust mites get motion sickness? Courtesy: Sandia

  9. How do we build MEMS? • A top-down approach: • Depositing and eroding (etching) layers Deposit “Filler” Deposit Metal Etch Diagrams Courtesy of: Holly Rourke

  10. Light Beam Building an Optical Switch Etch Out Filler Add Structure Diagrams Courtesy of: Holly Rourke

  11. What is Nanotechnology? • On the scale of 1 to 100 nanometres • Material properties and manufacturing VERY different at small scales! • Is it: • Physics? • Chemistry? • Biology? Courtesy: Dr. K. Namba, Osaka University

  12. A new kind of steel • Carbon Nanotubes! • 100 times stronger than steel, 1/5 the weight Courtesy: Smalley Researchgroup, http://cohesion.rice.edu/naturalsciences/smalley/index.cfm

  13. MWNT shaft Au rotor 300 nm Nanomotors • The rotor is 300 times smaller than the width of a human hair! • Uses a nanotube as an axel Pictures Courtesy: Zettl Reseach Group, UC Berkeley, California

  14. Biomolecular Propellors • Use self-assembly to create bio-motors • Add ATP and the rotor spins the beam! Pictures Courtesy: Montemagno Research Group, Cornell (published in Science, November 24th, 2000)

  15. c c 3 Bottom-up Assembly! 1 2 • Example: Building a “nano-bridge” with bump-and-stick reactions • Like putting together a jigsaw puzzle by shaking the table

  16. Building Organic Motors Pictures Courtesy: Dr. K. Namba, Osaka University,http://www.nanonet.go.jp/english/mailmag/2004/011a.html

  17. Thoughts to leave with… • Microtechnology is currently used in many commercial applications! • Airbags, telecommunications, computers • Nanotechnology has already made great leaps towards tiny moving things • Molecular motors, powered by our body • Super-strong structures of carbon tubing • Manufacturing and even physical laws are VERY different “down there”

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