thinking small: an introduction to nanotechnology patrick pilarski 3 rd june 2005
Post on 22-Dec-2015
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TRANSCRIPT
2Thinking 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
3An Idea of Scale: Micro
Features much smaller than a millimetre
Complex machines on the head of a pin
1000 microns=
1 millimetre
Picture Courtesy: Dalhousie MEMS Research Group micron.me.dal.ca
4An Idea of Scale: Nano
1 nanometre is one-billionth of a metre!Approximately 10 atoms placed in a line1/100,000th the width of a human hair
1000 nanometres
=1 micron
Picture Courtesy: Micralyne Inc. www.micralyne.com
5What is Microtechnology?
MEMS: Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems
Features on the scale of micronsFirst commercial MEMS device: • An airbag acceleration sensor
Courtesy: LucentCourtesy: Analog Devices
6Micro-Movement?
We can use comb drives!
Voltage makes combs to attract or repel
Courtesy: Micralyne Inc. www.micralyne.com Courtesy: Holly Rourke
8Tiny Gears
MEMS gears allow the platform to spinDo dust mites get motion sickness?
Courtesy: Sandia
9How do we build MEMS?
A top-down approach:• Depositing and eroding (etching) layers
Deposit Metal Deposit “Filler”
Etch
Diagrams Courtesy of: Holly Rourke
10Building an Optical Switch
Add Structure Etch Out Filler
Diagrams Courtesy of: Holly Rourke
LightBeam
11What 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
12A 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
13Nanomotors
The rotor is 300 times smaller than the width of a human hair!Uses a nanotube as an axel
300 nm
MWNT shaftAu rotor
Pictures Courtesy: Zettl Reseach Group, UC Berkeley, California
14Biomolecular 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)
15Bottom-up Assembly!
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1 2
3Example: Building a “nano-bridge” with bump-and-stick reactions
Like putting together a jigsaw puzzle by shaking the table
16Building Organic Motors
Pictures Courtesy: Dr. K. Namba, Osaka University, http://www.nanonet.go.jp/english/mailmag/2004/011a.html
17Thoughts 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”