Introduction to Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. Chris Binns

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СКАЧАТЬ out of combining them. For example, if one wants to measure the electrical or magnetic properties of an individual nanoparticle, the fantastic precision of a modern top–down tool enables the production of electrodes that can attach to it. An example is demonstrated in Figure I.7, which shows source, drain, and gate electrodes, produced by electron‐beam lithography (see Chapter 5, Section 5.2.1) applied to a single gold nanoparticle acting as a SET, as described earlier.

The above is an attempt at a lightning tour of nanotechnology with generic descriptions and without addressing details. The rest of the book looks in detail at these and other aspects of nanotechnology. Chapter 1 aims to instil a feeling of how small the nanometer length scale is in comparison to macroscopic objects and why it is special. It discusses the basic conception of the discrete nature of matter starting from the original philosophical ideas of Leucippus and Demokritos of ancient Greece to the modern view of atomic structure. It also describes why the properties of pieces of matter with a size in the nanometer range (nanoparticles) deviate significantly from the bulk material and how these special properties may be used to produce high‐performance materials and devices. In Chapter 2, the discussion is broadened to include naturally occurring nanoparticles, both in the Earth's atmosphere and in space. Chapter 3 is dedicated to nanoparticles composed of carbon, and the justification for devoting a chapter to a single element is the rich variety of nanostructures produced by carbon and their importance in the rest of nanotechnology. Chapter 4, which is new to this edition, continues with carbon and is devoted to a single structure, that is, the two‐dimensional form, graphene. This has become a huge area of research since Edition 1 was published and its potential applications justify a chapter dedicated to it. Chapter 5 presents the tools of nanotechnology that can build, image and manipulate nanostructures to build materials and devices using a bottom–up approach. It also describes top–down manufacturing methods that are capable of shaping nanostructures and perhaps one of the most exciting aspects of the field, that is, combining bottom–up and top–down approaches so that individual nanostructures can be probed as illustrated in Figure I.7. Chapter 6 is about artificially produced nanostructures that have a built‐in functionality. Examples presented include magnetic nanoparticles that store a data bit, nanoparticles that function as transistors, quantum dots, which behave as “artificial atoms” with novel optical and electronic properties, nanotube relays and linking structures with proteins.

      Chapter 7 is new to this edition and presents nanoparticles in liquids (hydrosols), nanobubbles, and the science of nanoscale interfaces. Chapter 8 shows how combining advances in the production of nanoparticles and in biotechnology, it is possible to produce biologically active nanoparticles that can interact with specific cells in the body. These can then be used as nanoscale amplifiers in biological images, or they can be used to destroy their attached cells under the application of external stimulation, such as radio frequency waves or infrared radiation leading to powerful new treatments for cancer. Chapter 9 presents radical nanotechnology and discusses the potential for building nanofactories and autonomous machines with nanoscale components. Chapter 10 discusses how the tools of nanotechnology can be exploited to study the basic nature of vacuum itself via the Casimir effect. This is a strange “force from nothing” that arises from the zero‐point energy density of empty space. The Casimir force also has practical applications in nanotechnology and new experiments have shown how to manipulate it to practical advantage in nanomachines.

References

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      2 2 Jones, R.A.L. (2007). Soft Machines Nanotechnology and Life. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN: 9780199226627.

      3 3 Borgia, I., Brunetti, B., Mariani, I. et al. (2002). Heterogenous distribution of metal nanocrystals in glazes of historial pottery. Applied Surface Science 185: 206–216. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169‐4332(01)00659‐6.

      4 4 Zharinov, V.S., Picot, T., Scheerder, J.E. et al. (2020). Room temperature single electron transistor based on a size‐selected aluminium cluster. Nanoscale 12: 1164. https://doi.org/10.1039/C9NR09467A.

      5 5 Everard, M.J. (2003). X‐ray scattering studies of self‐assembled nanostructures. PhD thesis. University of Leicester.

      6 6 Llamosa, D., Ruano, M., Martínez, L. et al. (2014). The ultimate step towards a tailored engineering of core@shell and core@shell@shell nanoparticles. Nanoscale 6: 13483. https://doi.org/10.1039/C4NR02913E.

      7 7 Krishnan, G., Verheijen, M.A., ten Brink, G.H. et al. (2013). Tuning structural motifs and alloying of bulk immiscible Mo–Cu bimetallic nanoparticles by gas‐phase synthesis. Nanoscale 5: 5375. https://doi.org/10.1039/C3NR00565H.

      8 8 Dexler, E. (1990). Engines of Creation. Garden City, NY, London: Fourth Estate. ISBN: 9781872180465.

      9 9 Pheonix, C. and Drexler, E. (2004). Safe exponential manufacturing. Nanotechnology 15: 869–872. https://doi.org/10.1088/0957‐4484/15/8/001.

      10 10 Bitten, O., Gutman, D.B., Berkovits, R., and Frydman, A. (2017). Multiple periodicity in a nanoparticle‐based single‐electron transistor. Nature Communications 8: 402. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467‐017‐00442‐6.

1 Size Matters

      1.1 The Fundamental Importance of Size

      The aim of this chapter is to instill an intuitive feel for the smallness of the structures that are used in nanotechnology and what is special about the size range involved. As we will see, the importance of the nanoscale is wrapped up with fundamental questions about the nature of matter and space that were first pondered by the ancient Greeks. Three thousand years ago, they led the philosophers Leucippus and Democritus to propose the concept of the atom. These ideas will come round full circle at the end of the book when we will see that modern answers (or at least partial answers – the issue is still hot) are very much wrapped up in nanotechnology.

First of all, let us remind ourselves how small nanostructures really are. This is a useful exercise even for professionals working in the field. The standard unit of length in the metric system is the meter, originally calibrated from a platinum–iridium alloy bar kept in Paris but since 1983 it has been defined as the distance light travels in 1/299 792 458 seconds. For convenience, СКАЧАТЬ