New blog material added 10-27-08

Class, I have added new material to the blog, which includes my notes from last week’s lecture (.doc file) and the associated handouts (.pdf).  I also added a link to the BYU site about photolithography that I showed in class.

Information about Exam 1

The first exam of the semester is this Friday at the regular class time.

Format of Exam 1:
•    Closed book
•    Fill in the blank
•    Short answer
•    Lists

Things you should memorize:
Time independent Schrodinger Eq.
Definition of nanoscience and nanotechnology (based on NSTC)

Example questions:

1.    The energy stabilization mechanism in which larger particles grow at the expense of smaller particles: ________________
2.    The energy that holds a liquid or solid together: _______________

3.    If a surface is restructured such that each atom has more nearest neighbors, what happens to the surface energy?

4.    Write the quantum mechanical operator that is analogous to the classical observable momentum, p

5.    List 3 challenges for Nanoscience

6.    Describe the interactions of an electron with matter when a characteristic x-ray is released

7.    Name three different modes of operating the SEM

Additional information about exam
•    Only a few (2-3) general questions from recent nano-optics lectures
•    You will NOT have to:
o    solve the Schrodinger Equation
o    write out a definition (except for NS and NT)
o    do a numerical calculation

Ferrofluid demonstration

Ferrofluids become strongly polarized in the presence of a magnetic field. The ferromagnetic particles are coated with a surfactant molecule, such as oleic acid, to prevent agglomeration due to van der Waals and magnetic forces. Applications include electronic devices, defense, aerospace, analytical instrumentation, medicine, and heat transfer.

Nano assembly by hand

A “nanohand” is a small gripper, small enough to manipulate nanotubes and nanofibres. This movie show how to pick and place nanofibres using a nanohand, to construct a nanodevice: a super-probe for atomic force microscopy. It takes a lot of work to get this far; and much more to get further: how about a virtual reality world where you can pick nanotubes with your own hands, while the nanogripper does it with 10000 times smaller fingers? How about an assembly line, a factory for building nanotube devices? Two big european projects, Nanorac and Nanohand, are now trying to make this reality.

The video was filmed by Volkmar Eichhorn at Oldenburg University in their cool nanorobot-in-a-microscope system, using the new microgrippers from DTU, designed by Kenneth Carlson.

Nanotech video by National Cancer Institute

Nanotech takes off

From Lawrence Berkeley National Labs to Silicon Valley, researchers are manipulating particles at the atomic level, ushering in potential cures for cancer, clothes that don’t stain, and solar panels as thick as a sheet of paper.

Nano sculpting

Nanotech for alternative energy sources

An example of how scanning tunneling microscopy is used in nanoscience research.

U.C. San Diego Nano Lecture

Nanofactory