No Choice
would be given
(QUANTUM PHYSICS)
Prerequisite: Basic knowledge of Quantum Mechanics & Condensed
Matter Physics
Syllabus
6. Poole Jr. CP & Owens FJ, “Introduction to NT”, Wiley India 2006
7. Sulabha Kulkarni, “Nanotechnology: Principles & Practices”, Capitol Publishing Company, 2011
8. Jasprit Singh, “Solid State Devices: Basic Principles”, Wiley 2004
9. BG Streetman & Sanjay Banerjee, “Solid State Electronic Devices”, Pearson, 1988/ 2016
[Link]
There's an unprecedented multidisciplinary convergence of scientists dedicated to the study of a
world so small, we can’t see it -- even with a light microscope: the field of nanotechnology.
Nanotechnology is science, engineering, and technology conducted at the nanoscale, which is
about 1 to 100 nm.
Nanoscience and nanotechnology are the study and application of extremely small things and
can be used across all the other science fields, such as
chemistry,
biology,
physics,
materials science, and
engineering.
Nanoscience and Nanotechnology are used in any field you name (where some kind of material
is involved)
Nanotechnology is a broad field that needs expertise in
Physics,
Chemistry,
Material Science,
Biology,
Mechanical and Electrical Engineering,
Medicine
and their united knowledge.
It is a border between atoms, molecules and macro world where the property is dictated by the
elementary behavior of atoms, viz. quantum mechanics.
It is a border between atoms, molecules and the macro world
where the property is dictated by the elementary behavior of atoms, viz. quantum mechanics.
The ideas and concepts behind nanoscience and nanotechnology started with a talk
entitled “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom”
by physicist Richard Feynman
at an American Physical Society (APS) meeting at the California Institute of Technology (CalTech)
in 1959, long before the term nanotechnology was used.
In his talk, Feynman described a process in which scientists would be able to manipulate and
control individual atoms and molecules.
Over a decade later, in his explorations of ultraprecision machining, Professor Norio Taniguchi
coined the term nanotechnology.
It wasn't until 1981, with the development of the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) that
could "see" individual atoms that the modern nanotechnology began.
Revision about the Resolving Power (as explained during the lecture)
(e.g. of a Telescope, an Optical Microscope, Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Transmission
Electron Microscope (TEM), Sacnning Tunneling Microscope(STM),….)
Rayleigh (not Rayleight, as labelled in the figure) criterion
for the diffraction limit to resolution states that
two images are just resolvable when the centre of the diffraction pattern of one is directly
over the first minimum of the diffraction pattern of the other, and vice versa.
The Resolving power (R.P.) is inversely proportional to the Limit of Resolution.
Hence smaller Limit of R’n is desirable to give better Resolving Power.
Resolving power (Wavelength of the probing beam)-1
Hence Electron microscopes have far better RP than the Optical Microscopes.
Revise (as told during the Lecture), how to calculate the wavelength of an electron beam
depending on, e.g. its energy:
(whether to apply Non-relativistic formaulae or Relativistic ones)
Nanoscale particles or even nanomaterials
are not new in either nature or science.
Wettability & Contact Angle (CA)
Better (Poor) wetting for the Smaller (Larger) CA
A water drop on a lotus leaf surface showing contact
angles of approximately 147° (Source: Wikipedia)
Wettability or Contact angle plays an important role in
various fields, including pharmaceuticals.
Micron-sized protuberances on the Lotus Leaf
No wetting of the lotus leaves
Although modern nanoscience and nanotechnology are
quite new,
nanoscale materials were used for centuries.
Small-sized gold and silver particles created colors in the
stained glass windows of medieval churches hundreds of
years ago.
The artists back then just didn’t know that the process
they used to create these beautiful works of art
actually led to changes in the composition of the
materials they were working with,
imparting novel properties to these materials.
Coloured glass has been produced
since ancient times.
Both the Egyptians and the Romans
excelled at the manufacture of
small colored glass objects.
The British Museum houses
one of the finest Roman pieces,
the Lycurgus Cup,
(a) murky mustard color (in Reflected light)
but
(b) glows purple-red in the transmitted light (Source
Today’s scientists and engineers are finding/ using/ looking for a wide variety of ways
to deliberately make materials at the nanoscale
to take advantage of their enhanced properties (that naturally occur at nanoscale)
such as
higher strength,
lighter weight,
increased control of light spectrum, and
greater chemical reactivity,
than their larger-scale counterparts.
The recent leaps in areas such as microscopy have given scientists new tools to understand and
take advantage of phenomena that occur naturally when matter is organized at the nanoscale.
In essence, these phenomena are based on "quantum effects" and
other simple physical effects such as expanded surface area.
In addition, the fact that a majority of biological processes occur at the nanoscale gives
scientists models and templates to imagine and construct new processes that can enhance
their performance in
medicine,
imaging,
computing,
printing,
chemical catalysis,
materials synthesis,
and many other fields.
