SEMINAR REPORT

ON

“NANOTECHNOLOGY”
Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the requirement for the award of
the degree of

BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY
IN
ELECTRONICS AND COMMUNICATION

SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY:

MR. ANSHU SINGH AKSHITA BHARGAV

160970102005
THDC-IHET

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND COMMUNICATION

THDC INSTITUTE OF HYDROPOWER ENGINEERING AND

TECHNOLOGY
TEHRI, UTTARAKHAND, INDIA
(UTTARAKHAND TEHNICAL UNIVERSITY, DEHRADUN)
2016-2020
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The confidence one attains while performing a task that has great importance of its
own comes not only through one’s own constant efforts but rather is a result of
ceaseless cooperation, constant guidance and ever motivating tips of various
experienced people
I have made this report file on the topic NANOTECHNOLOGY. I have tried my best
to elucidate all the relevant detail to the topic to be included in the report. While in the
beginning I have tried to give a general view about this topic.
My efforts and wholehearted co-corporation of each and everyone has ended on a
successful note. I express my sincere gratitude to Mr. Anshu Singh who assisting me
throughout the preparation of this topic. I thank him for providing me the
reinforcement, confidence and most importantly the track for the topic whenever I
needed it.

AKSHITA BHARGAV
B.TECH – ECE (4TH YEAR)

2
 ABSTRACT
For many decades, nanotechnology has been developed with cooperation from
researchers in several fields of studies including physics, chemistry, biology, material
science, engineering, and computer science. Nanotechnology is engineering at the
molecular (groups of atoms) level. It is the collective term for a range of technologies,
techniques and processes that involve the manipulation of matter at the smallest scale
(from 1 to 100 nm).The nanotechnology provides better future for human life in
various fields. In future nanotechnology provides economy, eco friendly and efficient
technology which removes all difficult predicaments which is faced by us in today life
scenario. Nanotechnology is the technology of preference to make things small,
light and cheap, nanotechnology based manufacturing is a method conceived for
processing and rearranging of atoms to fabricate custom products.
The impact of the nanotechnology occurred on computing and data storage, materials
and manufacturing, health and medicine, energy and environment, transportation,
national security and space exploration.
The present paper aims to reviews the previous work done and recent advancements in
the field of nanotechnology. Today the products made using nanomaterials having
general as well as special applications like treating cancer, phosgene detection, energy
harvesting for self powered nanosystems, chip fabrication, batteries, aerospace
materials etc. The research in the area of carbon nanotubes, nano-polymers, nano-
vectors, nanocomposites, nano-crystals, nanoparticles, nanofibers, nanoclays,
nanotubes, nanofilters, nanohorn, nanowires, nanosprings, nanorods etc. have been
reported. Various risks involved in using nanotechnology are also discussed because it
is believed that the most disruptive future changes may occur as a result of molecular
manufacturing, an advanced form of nanotechnology.

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 TABLE OF CONTENT
TOPICS PAGE NO.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 2

ABSTRACT 3

1. INTRODUCTION TO NANOTECHNOLOGY 5-6

1.1 FIRST, A WORD OF CAUTION
1.2 DEFINITION OF NANOTECHNOLOGY
1.3 OVERVIEW OF NANOTECHNOLOGY
2. HISTORY OF NANOTECHNOLOGY 7-8
2.1 HOW IT STARTED
2.2 PIONEERS
3. FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPT IN NANOTECH 9-11
3.1 PROPERTIES AT THE NANOSCALE
4. NANOFABRICATION-APPROACHES USED 12-15
4.1 TOP-DOWN APPROACH
4.2 BOTTOM-UP APPROACH

5. TOOLS AND INSTRUMENTS IN NANOTECHNOLOGY 16-20

5.1 ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPE (AFM)
5.2 SCANNING TUNNELING MICROSCOPE (STM)
5.3 OTHER TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES
6. BENEFITS AND APPLICATIONS 21-25
6.1 EVERYDAY MATERIALS AND PROCESSES
6.2 ELECTRONIC AND I.T APPLICATIONS
6.3 MEDICAL AND HEALTHCARE APPLICATIONS
6.4 ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION

7. ADVANCES IN NANOTECHNOLOGY 26-28

8. FUTURE EXPECTATIONS 29-30

8.1 RISKS INVOLVED IN NANOTECHNOLOGY

9. CONCLUSION 31

10. REFERENCES 32

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 INTRODUCTION TO NANOTECHNOLOGY

First, a word of caution

Truly revolutionary nanotech products, materials and applications, such
as nanorobotics, are years in the future. What qualifies as "nanotechnology" today is
basic research and development that is happening in laboratories all over the world.
"Nanotech" products that are on the market today are mostly gradually improved
products (using evolutionary nanotechnology) where some form of nano-enabled
material (such as carbon nanotubes, nanocomposite structures or nanoparticles of a
particular substance) or nanotech process (e.g. nanopatterning or quantum dots for
medical imaging) is used in the manufacturing process.
In their ongoing quest to improve existing products by creating smaller components
and better performance materials, all at a lower cost, the number of companies that
will manufacture "nanoproducts" (by this definition) will grow very fast and soon
make up the majority of all companies across many industries.
Evolutionary nanotechnology should therefore be viewed as a process that gradually
will affect most companies and industries.

Definition of NANOTECHNOLOGY
So what exactly is nanotechnology? One of the problems facing this technology is the
confusion about how to define nanotechnology. Most revolve around the study and
control of phenomena and materials at length scales below 100 nm and quite often
they make a comparison with a human hair, which is about 80,000 nm wide.
Nanotechnology ("nanotech") is manipulation of matter on an atomic, molecular,
and supramolecular scale.
The earliest, widespread description of nanotechnology referred to the particular
technological goal of precisely manipulating atoms and molecules for fabrication of
macroscale products, also now referred to as molecular nanotechnology. A more
generalized description of nanotechnology was subsequently established by
the National Nanotechnology Initiative, which defines nanotechnology as the
manipulation of matter with at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometers. It
seems that a size limitation to the 1-100 nm range, the area where size-dependant
quantum effects come to bear, would exclude numerous materials and devices,
especially in the pharmaceutical area, and some experts caution against a rigid

5
definition based on a sub-100 nm size. This definition reflects the fact that quantum
mechanical effects are important at this quantum-realm scale, and so the definition
shifted from a particular technological goal to a research category inclusive of all
types of research and technologies that deal with the special properties of matter
which occur below the given size threshold. It is therefore common to see the plural
form "nanotechnologies" as well as "nanoscale technologies" to refer to the broad
range of research and applications whose common trait is size.
The most important requirement for the nanotechnology definition is that the
nano-structure has special properties that are exclusively due to its nanoscale
proportions. This definition is based on the number of dimensions of a material,
which are outside the nanoscale (<100 nm) range.

OVERVIEW OF NANOTECHNOLOGY
Nanotechnology is highly interdisciplinary, involving
physics, chemistry, biology, materials science, and the full range of
the engineering disciplines. The word nanotechnology is widely used as shorthand to
refer to both the science and the technology of this emerging field. Narrowly defined,
nanoscience concerns a basic understanding of physical, chemical, and biological
properties on atomic and near-atomic scales. Nanotechnology, narrowly defined,
employs controlled manipulation of these properties to create materials and functional
systems with unique capabilities.
In contrast to recent engineering efforts, nature developed “nanotechnologies” over
billions of years, employing enzymes and catalysts to organize
with exquisite precision different kinds of atoms and molecules into complex
microscopic structures that make life possible. These natural products are built with
great efficiency and have impressive capabilities, such as the power to harvest solar
energy, to convert minerals and water into living cells, to store and process massive
amounts of data using large arrays of nerve cells, and to replicate perfectly billions of
bits of information stored in molecules of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).

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 HISTORY OF NANOTECHNOLOGY

HOW IT STARTED?
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 meeting at the California Institute of Technology
(CalTech) on December 29, 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.

In 1960, Egyptian engineer Mohamed Atalla and Korean engineer Dawon

Kahng at Bell Labs fabricated the first MOSFET (metal-oxide-semiconductor field-
effect transistor) with a gate oxide thickness of 100 nm, along with a gate length
of 20 µm. In 1962, Atalla and Kahng fabricated a nanolayer-base metal–
semiconductor junction (M–S junction) transistor that used gold (Au) thin films with a
thickness of 10 nm.

Over a decade later, in his explorations of ultraprecision machining, Professor Norio

Taniguchi coined the term nanotechnology in 1974.

Inspired by Feynman's concepts, K. Eric Drexler used the term "nanotechnology" in

his 1986 book Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology, which
proposed the idea of a nanoscale "assembler" which would be able to build a copy of
itself and of other items of arbitrary complexity with atomic control. Also in 1986,
Drexler co-founded The Foresight Institute (with which he is no longer affiliated) to
help increase public awareness and understanding of nanotechnology concepts and
implications.

PIONEERS
A number of key technological milestones have been achieved by working pioneers.
 Molecular beam epitaxy, invented by Alfred Cho and John Arthur at Bell
Labs in 1968 and developed in the 1970s, enabled the controlled deposition of
single atomic layers. This tool provided for nanostructuring in one dimension
as atomic layers were grown one upon the next. It subsequently became
important in the area of compound semiconductor device fabrication.

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 In 1981 Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer developed the scanning tunneling
microscope at IBM’s laboratories in Switzerland. This tool provided a
revolutionary advance by enabling scientists to image the position of
individual atoms on surfaces. It earned Binnig and Rohrer a Nobel Prize in
1986 and spawned a wide variety of scanning probe tools for nanoscale
observations.
 The observation of new carbon structures marked another important milestone
in the advance of nanotechnology, with Nobel Prizes for the discoverers. In
1985 Robert F. Curl, Jr., Harold W. Kroto, and Richard E. Smalley discovered
the first fullerene, the third known form of pure carbon (after diamond and
graphite). They named their discovery buckminsterfullerene (“buckyball”) for
its resemblance to the geodesic domes promoted by the American architect R.
Buckminster Fuller. Technically called C60 for the 60 carbon atoms that form
their hollow spherical structure, buckyballs resemble a football one nanometre
in diameter (see figure).
 In 1991 Sumio Iijima of NEC Corporation in Japan discovered carbon
nanotubes, in which the carbon ring-like structures are extended from spheres
into long tubes of varying diameter. Taken together, these new structures
surprised and excited the imaginations of scientists about the possibilities of
forming well-defined nanostructures with unexpected new properties.

Fig: The structure of buckminsterfullerene (C60).

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 FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPT IN NANOTECH

One nanometer is a billionth of a meter, or 10-9 of a meter. Here are a few illustrative
examples:
 There are 25,400,000 nanometres in an inch
 A sheet of newspaper is about 100,000 nanometres thick
 On a comparative scale, if a marble were a nanometre, then one meter would be
the size of the Earth.
By comparison, typical carbon-carbon bond lengths, or the spacing between
these atoms in a molecule, are in the range 0.12–0.15 nm, and a DNA double-helix
has a diameter around 2 nm. On the other hand, the smallest cellular life-forms,
the bacteria of the genus Mycoplasma, are around 200 nm in length. By
convention, nanotechnology is taken as the scale range 1 to 100 nm following the
definition used by the National Nanotechnology Initiative in the US. The lower
limit is set by the size of atoms (hydrogen has the smallest atoms, which are
approximately a quarter of a nm kinetic diameter) since nanotechnology must
build its devices from atoms and molecules. The upper limit is more or less
arbitrary but is around the size below which phenomena not observed in larger
structures start to become apparent and can be made use of in the nano device

PROPERTIES AT THE NANOSCALE

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
work in medicine, imaging, computing, printing, chemical catalysis, materials
synthesis, and many other fields. Nanotechnology is not simply working at ever
smaller dimensions; rather, working at the nanoscale enables scientists to utilize the
unique physical, chemical, mechanical, and optical properties of materials that
naturally occur at that scale.

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SCALE AT WHICH QUANTUM EFFECTS DOMINATE PROPERTIES OF
MATERIALS
When particle sizes of solid matter in the visible scale are compared to what can be
seen in a regular optical microscope, there is little difference in the properties of the
particles. But when particles are created with dimensions of about 1–100 nanometres
(where the particles can be “seen” only with powerful specialized microscopes), the
materials’ properties change significantly from those at larger scales. This is the size
scale where so-called quantum effects rule the behaviour and properties of particles.
Properties of materials are size-dependent in this scale range. Thus, when particle size
is made to be nanoscale, properties such as melting point, fluorescence, electrical
conductivity, magnetic permeability, and chemical reactivity change as a function of
the size of the particle.

A fascinating and powerful result of the quantum effects of the nanoscale is the
concept of “tunability” of properties. That is, by changing the size of the particle, a
scientist can literally fine-tune a material property of interest (e.g., changing
fluorescence color; in turn, the fluorescence color of a particle can be used to identify
the particle, and various materials can be “labeled” with fluorescent markers for
various purposes). Another potent quantum effect of the nanoscale is known
as “tunneling,” which is a phenomenon that enables the scanning tunneling
microscope and flash memory for computing.

SCALE AT WHICH MUCH OF BIOLOGY OCCURS

Over millennia, nature has perfected the art of biology at the nanoscale. Many of the
inner workings of cells naturally occur at the nanoscale. For example, haemoglobin,
the protein that carries oxygen through the body, is 5.5 nanometres in diameter. A
strand of DNA, one of the building blocks of human life, is only about 2 nanometres
in diameter.

Drawing on the natural nanoscale of biology, many medical researchers are working
on designing tools, treatments, and therapies that are more precise and personalized
than conventional ones and that can be applied earlier in the course of a disease and
lead to fewer adverse side-effects. One medical example of nanotechnology is the bio-
barcode assay, a relatively low-cost method of detecting disease-specific biomarkers
in the blood, even when there are very few of them in a sample. The basic process,

10
which attaches “recognition” particles and DNA “amplifiers” to gold nanoparticles,
was originally demonstrated at Northwestern University for a prostate cancer
biomarker following prostatectomy. The bio-barcode assay has proven to be
considerably more sensitive than conventional assays for the same target biomarkers,
and it can be adapted to detect almost any molecular target.

SCALE AT WHICH SURFACES ND INTERFACES PLAY A LARGE ROLE IN

MATERIAL PROPERTIES AND INTERACTIONS
Nanoscale materials have far larger surface areas than similar masses of larger-scale
materials. As surface area per mass of a material increases, a greater amount of the
material can come into contact with surrounding materials, thus affecting reactivity.

One benefit of greater surface area and improved reactivity in nanostructured

materials is that they have helped create better catalysts. As a result, catalysis by
engineered nanostructured materials already impacts about one-third of the huge
U.S.—and global—catalyst markets, affecting billions of dollars of revenue in the oil
and chemical industries.iii An everyday example of catalysis is the catalytic converter
in a car, which reduces the toxicity of the engine’s fumes. Nanoengineered batteries,
fuel cells, and catalysts can potentially use enhanced reactivity at the nanoscale to
produce cleaner, safer, and more affordable modes of producing and storing energy.
Large surface area also makes nanostructured membranes and materials ideal
candidates for water treatment and desalination, among other uses. It also helps
support “functionalization” of nanoscale material surfaces (adding particles for
specific purposes), for applications ranging from drug delivery to clothing insulation.

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 NANOFABRICATION-APPROACHES USED

Two very different paths are pursued. One is a top-down strategy of miniaturizing
current technologies, while the other is a bottom-up strategy of building ever-more-
complex molecular devices atom by atom. Top-down approaches are good for
producing structures with long-range order and for making macroscopic connections,
while bottom-up approaches are best suited for assembly and establishing short-range
order at nanoscale dimensions. The integration of top-down and bottom-up techniques
is expected to eventually provide the best combination of tools for nanofabrication.
Nanotechnology requires new tools for fabrication and measurement.

TOP DOWN APPROACH

 The most common top-down approach to fabrication involves lithographic
patterning techniques using short-wavelength optical sources. A key advantage
of the top-down approach—as developed in the fabrication of integrated
circuits—is that the parts are both patterned and built in place, so that no
assembly step is needed.
 Optical lithography is a relatively mature field because of the high degree of
refinement in microelectronic chip manufacturing, with current short-
wavelength optical lithography techniques reaching dimensions just below 100
nanometres (the traditional threshold definition of the nanoscale). Shorter-
wavelength sources, such as extreme ultraviolet and X-ray, are being
developed to allow lithographic printing techniques to reach dimensions from
10 to 100 nanometres.
 Scanning beam techniques such as electron-beam lithography provide patterns
down to about 20 nanometres. Here the pattern is written by sweeping a finely
focused electron beam across the surface. Focused ion beams are also used for
direct processing and patterning of wafers, although with somewhat less
resolution than in electron-beam lithography. Still-smaller features are
obtained by using scanning probes to deposit or remove thin layers.
 Mechanical printing techniques—nanoscale imprinting, stamping, and
molding—have been extended to the surprisingly small dimensions of about
20 to 40 nanometres. The details of these techniques vary, but they are all
based on making a master “stamp” by a high-resolution technique such as

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 electron-beam lithography and then applying this stamp, or subsequent
generations of it, to a surface to create the pattern. In one variation a stamp’s
surface is coated with a very thin layer of material (the “ink”) that can then be
deposited (“inked”) directly onto the surface to reproduce the stamp’s pattern.

 In another approach the stamp is used mechanically to press the pattern into a
thin layer of material. This surface layer is typically a polymeric material that
has been made pliable for the moulding process by being heated during the
stamping procedure. Plasma etching can then be used to remove the thin layer
of the masking material under the stamped regions; any residual polymer is
thus removed, and a nanoscale lithographic pattern is left on the surface.

 These nanoscale printing techniques offer several advantages beyond the

ability to use a wider variety of materials with curved surfaces. In particular,
such approaches can be carried out in ordinary laboratories with far-less-
expensive equipment than that needed for conventional submicron lithography.

 The challenge for all top-down techniques is that, while they work well at the
microscale (at millionths of a metre), it becomes increasingly difficult to apply
them at nanoscale dimensions. A second disadvantage is that they involve
planar techniques, which means that structures are created by the addition and
subtraction of patterned layers (deposition and etching), so arbitrary three-
dimensional objects are difficult to construct.

BOTTOM-UP APPROACH

 Bottom-up, or self-assembly, approaches to nanofabrication use chemical or

physical forces operating at the nanoscale to assemble basic units into larger
structures. As component size decreases in nanofabrication, bottom-up
approaches provide an increasingly important complement to top-down
techniques.

 Inspiration for bottom-up approaches comes from biological systems, where

nature has harnessed chemical forces to create essentially all the structures
needed by life. Researchers hope to replicate nature’s ability to produce small
clusters of specific atoms, which can then self-assemble into more-elaborate
structures.

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 Fig: Nanoparticles: hydrogen peroxide

 A number of bottom-up approaches have been developed for producing

nanoparticles, ranging from condensation of atomic vapours on surfaces to
coalescence of atoms in liquids.
 For example, liquid-phase techniques based on inverse micelles (globules
of lipid molecules floating in a nonaqueous solution in which their polar, or
hydrophilic, ends point inward to form a hollow core, as shown in the figure)
have been developed to produce size-selected nanoparticles of semiconductor,
magnetic, and other materials.
 An example of self-assembly that achieves a limited degree of control over
both formation and organization is the growth of quantum dots. Indium
gallium arsenide (InGaAs) dots can be formed by growing thin layers of
InGaAs on GaAs in such a manner that repulsive forces caused by
compressive strain in the InGaAs layer results in the formation of
isolated quantum dots. After the growth of multiple layer pairs, a fairly
uniform spacing of the dots can be achieved.
 Another example of self-assembly of an intricate structure is the formation of
carbon nanotubes under the right set of chemical and temperature conditions.
 DNA-assisted assembly may provide a method
to integrate hybrid heterogeneous parts into a single device. Biology does this
very well, combining self-assembly and self-organization in
fluidic environments where weaker electrochemical forces play a significant
role. By using DNA-like recognition, molecules on surfaces may be able to
direct attachments between objects in fluids. In this approach, polymers made
with complementary DNA strands would be used as intelligent “adhesive
tape,” attaching between polymers only when the right pairing is present. Such
assembly might be combined with electrical fields to assist in locating the

14
 attachment sites and then be followed by more-permanent attachment
approaches, such as electrodeposition and metallization.
 There are several advantages of DNA-assisted approaches: DNA molecules
can be sequenced and replicated in large quantities, DNA sequences act as
codes that can be used to recognize complementary DNA strands, hybridized
DNA strands form strong bonds to their complementary sequence, and DNA
strands can be attached to different devices as labels. These properties are
being explored for ways to self-assemble molecules into nanoscale units.
 For example, sequences of DNA have been fabricated that adhere only to
particular crystal faces of compound semiconductors, providing a basis for
self-assembly. By having the correct complementary sequences at the other
end of the DNA molecule, certain faces of small
semiconductor building blocks can be made that adhere to or repel each other.

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 TOOLS AND INSTRUMENTS IN NANOTECHNOLOGY

The different tools and techniques that are used for producing and imaging a
nanoscaled object is explained in detail. There are several important modern
developments. The atomic force microscope (AFM) and the Scanning Tunneling
Microscope (STM) are two early versions of scanning probes that launched
nanotechnology. There are other types of scanning probe microscopy.
ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPE (AFM)
Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is also known as Scanning force microscopy (SFM).
This device is used to visualizing, imaging, taking measures and for manipulating
objects that are in nanometre scale. The resolution of such a device is said to be in the
order of fractions of a nanometre. The earlier version of the AFM was called the
Scanning Tunneling Microscope, developed in the early 1980’s. The AFM was
developed in the year 1986 by Binnig, Quate and Gerber at the IBM Research –
Zurich and earned them the Nobel Prize for Physics for the same year.
The device consists of a mechanical probe that is used to sense the material that is
placed on the surface. A highly accurate scanning procedure then takes place, through
which the corresponding electronic signals are generated using piezoelectric materials.
If the variations are deeper in scale, they can also be measured using conducting
cantilevers.
The block diagram of an AFM is shown below. From the figure it is understood that it
has a sharp tip cantilever with a radius in nanometres, which is used to scan the
surface of the material. The cantilever is made out of silicon or silicon nitride. The
principle of Hook’s law is applied to the working of the cantilever. According to the
law, a deflection will be produced by the cantilever as soon as the tip of it is brought
closely to the surface of the material. This deflection is produced as a result of the
forces that occur between the tip of the cantilever and the surface of the material.

16
 Fig: Atomic Force Microscope – Block Diagram

Many parameters can be measured with the help of an AFM. Some of the common
measurements that are taken are chemical bonding, Van der Waals force, mechanical
contact force, capillary forces, Casimir forces, and so on. If additional probes are
fitted to the device, many other parameters can also be measured. The detailed
working of an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) is shown in the figure below.

The deflection produced by the cantilever will be measured using a series of

photodiodes which receives the laser signal from the top tip of the cantilever. There
will be a problem of the tip causing damage if it is scanned at a constant height. To
overcome this problem, a feedback mechanism is used to keep the same force between
the tip and the sample throughout. Thus the distance between the tip and the sample
will remain constant always.

Fig: Atomic Force Microscope – Working

17
 In the case of the sample, its force is kept constant by mounting it on a piezo-electric
tube. This tube has the capability to move the material in the x, y and z-directions. The
movement in the x and y directions help in scanning the sample. The movement in the
z direction keeps the force constant.

More problems regarding the distortion due to a tube scanner can be eliminated by
configuring three piezo-electric crystals.

SCANNING TUNNELING MICROSCOPE (STM)

Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM) was developed in the year 1981 by Gerd
Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer. An STM is used for imaging surfaces at the atomic level.
The lateral resolution of an STM lies around 0.1 nanometre and depth resolution lies
around 0.01 nanometre. This measure is more than enough to manipulate a good
image. With this resolution, individual atoms within materials are routinely imaged
and manipulated.
This method can be used in different modes like air, water, high vacuum, liquid and
gas. It can also be used in very high and low temperatures. In an STM, when the tip of
the device is brought near the material, a difference in voltage is applied between
them. This difference causes the electrons to move through the empty space created
between them. Such a method is called quantum tunneling.
As a result, a current is formed which depends on the position of the tip of the device,
the applied voltage, and the local density of states (LDOS) of the sample. The image
is displayed on a monitor according to the scanning process of the tip on the material.
The method is very precise unless and until the parameters are maintained according
to standards. The tip of the device should be sharp, the surface should be clean and
stable, the device should have better control on the vibrations produced.

Components used in STM

 Scanning tip
 Piezo-electric controlled height
 X-Y scanner
 Coarse sample-to-tip control
 Vibration isolation system
 Computer

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Working of Scanning Tunneling Microscope
The tip of the device is moved closer to the sample in a controlled manner. At the
same time a voltage difference is brought to the tip of the device. As soon as the tip
reaches very close to the material, the voltage difference is turns off. The working of
the device is clearly shown in the figure below. Take a look.

Fig: Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM)

When the tip reaches close to the material, piezo-electric effect causes the accurate
control of the tip. At such a situation the distance between the tip and the material is
usually between (4-7)Å. At the same time the voltage difference in the tip causes the
electrons to flow between the sample and the tip. This causes a current flow, whose
reading is noted. As soon as the tunnelling effect starts to work, the distance between
the tip and the material can be changed accordingly. An image is created according to
the current readings. A movement of the tip in the X-Y direction causes a change in
the height and density of the states. The height is in the Z-axis and can be measured
with respect to a constant current. This method is called constant current method. In
another method called the constant height method, the change in current with respect
to position can be measured itself.

The image clarity depends on the radius of curvature of the scanning tip of the device.
The image can also be distorted if the tip of the device has two ends rather than one. If
such a condition occurs, it will lead to tunnelling effect from both the tips. Such a

19
 condition is called double-tip imaging. The material used for making the tip is mostly
tungsten or gold. The tip is designed using electro-chemical etching.

The body of the STM has to be highly rigid in order to avoid the sudden isolations that
may occur during the scanning process. If such a problem happens the current to
height ratio changes thus deforming the image.

The computer is responsible for keeping the position of the tip in the correct position
w.r.t the sample, sample scanning and also data acquisition.

Other Tools and Techniques

 The very first devices that made us possible to see the nanoparticles were the scanning
confocal microscope and the scanning acoustic microscope in the years 1961 and
1970. The latest techniques involve a method called position assembly in which the
end of a scanning probe is used to make the nanoparticles visible.
 Some of the other tools that are needed in this field are for the application in
nanolithography, a process that is used to reduce a big material to nanosize. Some of
the methods that are used for this technique are optical lithography, X-ray lithography,
dip pen nanolithography and so on.
 Different tools and techniques are also required for the fabrication of nanowires like
electron beam lithography, nano-imprint lithography, atomic layer deposition,
molecular vapour deposition, and so on. Techniques required for molecular self
assembly also require tools.

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 BENEFITS AND APPLICATIONS

Today, a life without nanotechnology is hard to imagine. Nanotechnologies – to be

more specific: nanomaterials – are already used in numerous products and industrial
applications
Nanotechnology is helping to considerably improve, even revolutionize, many
technology and industry sectors: information technology, homeland security,
medicine, transportation, energy, food safety, and environmental science, among
many others. Described below is a sampling of the rapidly growing list of benefits and
applications of nanotechnology.

EVERYDAY MATERIALS AND PROCESSES

 Nanoscale additives to or surface treatments of fabrics can provide lightweight

ballistic energy deflection in personal body armor, or can help them resist
wrinkling, staining, and bacterial growth.

 Clear nanoscale films on eyeglasses, computer and camera displays, windows, and
other surfaces can make them water- and residue-repellent, antireflective, self-
cleaning, resistant to ultraviolet or infrared light, antifog, antimicrobial, scratch-
resistant, or electrically conductive.

 Nanoscale materials are beginning to enable washable, durable “smart fabrics”

equipped with flexible nanoscale sensors and electronics with capabilities for
health monitoring, solar energy capture, and energy harvesting through movement.

 Lightweighting of cars, trucks, airplanes, boats, and space craft could lead to
significant fuel savings.

 Nanoscale additives in polymer composite materials are being used in baseball

bats, tennis rackets, bicycles, motorcycle helmets, automobile parts, luggage, and
power tool housings, making them lightweight, stiff, durable, and resilient.

 Carbon nanotube sheets are now being produced for use in next-generation air
vehicles. For example, the combination of light weight and conductivity makes
them ideal for applications such as electromagnetic shielding and thermal
management. .

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 Nanostructured ceramic coatings exhibit much greater toughness than
conventional wear-resistant coatings for machine parts. Nanotechnology-enabled
lubricants and engine oils also significantly reduce wear and tear, which can
significantly extend the lifetimes of moving parts in everything from power tools
to industrial machinery.

 Nanoparticles are used increasingly in catalysis to boost chemical reactions. This

reduces the quantity of catalytic materials necessary to produce desired results,
saving money and reducing pollutants. Two big applications are in petroleum
refining and in automotive catalytic converters.

ELECTRONICS AND I.T. APPLIACTIONS

Nanotechnology has greatly contributed to major advances in computing and
electronics, leading to faster, smaller, and more portable systems that can manage and
store larger and larger amounts of information. These continuously evolving
applications include:

 Transistors, the basic switches that enable all modern computing, have gotten
smaller and smaller through nanotechnology. At the turn of the century, a typical
transistor was 130 to 250 nanometers in size. In 2014, Intel created a 14 nanometer
transistor, then IBM created the first seven nanometer transistor in 2015, and then
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab demonstrated a one nanometer transistor in
2016! Smaller, faster, and better transistors may mean that soon your computer’s
entire memory may be stored on a single tiny chip.
 Using magnetic random access memory (MRAM), computers will be able to
“boot” almost instantly. MRAM is enabled by nanometer‐scale magnetic tunnel
junctions and can quickly and effectively save data during a system shutdown or
enable resume‐play features.
 Ultra-high definition displays and televisions are now being sold that use quantum
dots to produce more vibrant colors while being more energy efficient.
 Flexible, bendable, foldable, rollable, and stretchable electronics are reaching into
various sectors and are being integrated into a variety of products,
including wearables, medical applications, aerospace applications, and the
Internet of Things. Flexible electronics have been developed using, for example,
semiconductor nanomembranes for applications in smartphone and e-reader

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 displays. Other nanomaterials like graphene and cellulosic nanomaterials are being
used for various types of flexible electronics to enable wearable and “tattoo”
sensors, photovoltaics that can be sewn onto clothing, and electronic paper that
can be rolled up.
 Other computing and electronic products include Flash memory chips for smart
phones and thumb drives; ultra-responsive hearing aids; antimicrobial/antibacterial
coatings on keyboards and cell phone casings; conductive inks for printed
electronics for RFID/smart cards/smart packaging; and flexible displays for e-
book readers.

MEDICAL AND HEALTHCARE APPLICATIONS

Nanotechnology is already broadening the medical tools, knowledge, and therapies
currently available to clinicians. Nanomedicine, the application of nanotechnology in
medicine, draws on the natural scale of biological phenomena to produce precise
solutions for disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Below are some examples
of recent advances in this area:

 Better imaging and diagnostic tools enabled by nanotechnology are paving the
way for earlier diagnosis, more individualized treatment options, and better
therapeutic success rates.

 Nanotechnology is being studied for both the diagnosis and treatment of

atherosclerosis, or the build up of plaque in arteries. In one technique, researchers
created a nanoparticle that mimics the body’s “good” cholesterol, known as HDL
(high-density lipoprotein), which helps to shrink plaque.

 The design and engineering of advanced solid-state nanopore materials could

allow for the development of novel gene sequencing technologies that enable
single-molecule detection at low cost and high speed with minimal sample
preparation and instrumentation.

 Nanotechnology researchers are working on a number of different therapeutics

where a nanoparticle can encapsulate or otherwise help to deliver medication
directly to cancer cells and minimize the risk of damage to healthy tissue. This has

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 the potential to change the way doctors treat cancer and dramatically reduce the
toxic effects of chemotherapy.

 Research in the use of nanotechnology for regenerative medicine spans several

application areas, including bone and neural tissue engineering. For instance,
novel materials can be engineered to mimic the crystal mineral structure of human
bone or used as a restorative resin for dental applications. Researchers are looking
for ways to grow complex tissues with the goal of one day growing human organs
for transplant. Researchers are also studying ways to use graphene nanoribbons to
help repair spinal cord injuries; preliminary research shows that neurons grow well
on the conductive graphene surface.

 Nanomedicine researchers are looking at ways that nanotechnology can improve

vaccines, including vaccine delivery without the use of needles. Researchers also
are working to create a universal vaccine scaffold for the annual flu vaccine that
would cover more strains and require fewer resources to develop each year.

ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION
In addition to the ways that nanotechnology can help improve energy efficiency (see
the section above), there are also many ways that it can help detect and clean up
environmental contaminants:
 Nanotechnology could help meet the need for affordable, clean drinking water
through rapid, low-cost detection and treatment of impurities in water.

 Engineers have developed a thin film membrane with nanopores for energy-
efficient desalination. This molybdenum disulphide (MoS2) membrane filtered two
to five times more water than current conventional filters.
 Nanoparticles are being developed to clean industrial water pollutants in ground
water through chemical reactions that render the pollutants harmless. This process
would cost less than methods that require pumping the water out of the ground for
treatment.

 Researchers have developed a nanofabric "paper towel" woven from tiny wires of
potassium manganese oxide that can absorb 20 times its weight in oil for cleanup
applications. Researchers have also placed magnetic water-repellent nanoparticles
in oil spills and used magnets to mechanically remove the oil from the water.

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 Many airplane cabin and other types of air filters are nanotechnology-based filters
that allow “mechanical filtration,” in which the fiber material creates nanoscale
pores that trap particles larger than the size of the pores. The filters also may
contain charcoal layers that remove odors.

 Nanotechnology-enabled sensors and solutions are now able to detect and identify
chemical or biological agents in the air and soil with much higher sensitivity than
ever before. Researchers are investigating particles such as self-assembled
monolayers on mesoporous supports (SAMMS™), dendrimers, and carbon
nanotubes to determine how to apply their unique chemical and physical
properties for various kinds of toxic site remediation. Another sensor has been
developed by NASA as a smartphone extension that firefighters can use to monitor
air quality around fires.

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 ADVANCES IN NANOTECHNOLOGY

1. Energy harvesting for self-powered nanosystems:

There are energy harvesting technologies other than the well-known solar cell and
thermoelectrics that have potential for powering nanosystems. The piezoelectric
nanogenerators are developed using aligned ZnO nanowire arrays. This is a potential
technology for converting mechanical movement energy (such as body movement,
muscle stretching, blood pressure), vibration energy (such as acoustic/ultrasonic
wave), and hydraulic energy (such as flow of body fluid, blood flow, contraction of
blood vessel, dynamic fluid in nature) into electric energy for self-powered
nanosystems. A key advantage of nanodevices and nanosystems is that they usually
operate at a very low power in the range from nW to W. As a result, the energy
harvested from the environment may be sufficient to power the system. Biochemical
power sources are mechanical energy, vibrational energy, chemical energy (glucose),
and hydraulic energy. If a small fraction of such energy could be converted into
electricity, the energy may be sufficient to power small devices for biomedical
applications.
2. Chip fabrication:
Extreme ultraviolet lithography will use mirrors to direct light with a wavelength of
13nanometers to print features at 32-nanometer scale. The smaller scale will yield
chips that run much faster.
3. Batteries:
Lithium ion batteries using multiwalled nanotubes are safer and more effective, with
up to 10 times life and 5 times the available power are already available in the market.
4. Nanocrystals:
Nanocrystals are emerging as key materials due to their novel shape- and size-
dependent chemical and physical properties that differ drastically from their bulk
counterparts. Nanoscale crystals are often harder, stronger and more wear resistant
than the same materials in bulk form. Nanocrystals might be used to make super-
strong and long-lasting metal parts. The crystals also may be added to plastics and
other metals to make new types of composite structures for automotive, electronics
and other applications.

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 Fig. The first atomic-scale images of nanocrystals

5. Nanohorns: One of the SWCNT (single walled carbon nanotube) types, with an
irregular horn-like shape, may be a critical component of new generation fuel cells.
The main characteristic of the carbon nanohorns is that when many of the nanohorns
group together, an aggregate (a secondary particle) of about 100 nanometers is
created. The advantage being, that when used as an electrode for a fuel cell, not only
the surface area is extremely large, but also, it is easy for the gas and liquid to
permeate to the inside. In addition, the nanohorns are easily prepared with high purity
as compared with normal nanotubes and therefore it is expected to become a low-cost
raw material.
6. Nanowires: Semiconductor nanowires are one-dimensional structures, with unique
electrical and optical properties, that are used as building blocks in nanoscale devices.
Stripped or 'superlatticed' nanowires can function as transistors, LEDs (light-emitting
diodes) and other optoelectronic devices, biochemical sensors, heat-pumping
thermoelectric devices, or all of the above, along with the same length of wire.
7. Graphene nano-ribbons: Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) can be considered to be
formed by folding grapheme ribbons to form seamless cylinders. However, grapheme
itself is a 2D, zero-gap semiconductor having very interesting electrical properties.
Recently, single grapheme layers were produced and they have become a subject of
intense study. The studies have also revealed about the surprising electron and hole
mobilities of the order 104 cm2/Vs. This has raised a possibility of using grapheme
itself as a device similar to CNTs. However, being zero-gap semiconductor, it cannot
be directly used in the applications like field-effect Transistors (FETs). However,
besides the 2D confinement, grapheme ribbons can be further confined by forming
narrower ribbons, which would result in a split of original 2D energy into several 1D
modes. Depending on the boundary conditions, some sets of these 1D modes do not

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pass through the intersection point of the conduction and valence band, and these
quasi- 1D graphene ribbons become semiconductors with a finite energy gap [8].
Thus formed GNRs would possess properties, which are quite different from those of
graphene. These GNRs can be utilized in the applications related to transistors too.
Typically, a 20nm ribbon can carry confinement-induced gap of the order of 30 meV.
8. Single molecule logic gates: A molecular logic gate is a molecule that performs a
logical operation on one or more logic inputs and produces a single logic output.
Typical Molecular logic gate work with input signals based on chemical processes and
with output signals based on spectroscopy. Quantum mechanical calculations are
performed to characterize some of the electrical properties of the molecular diode
switches. Explicit structural designs are displayed for AND, OR and XOR gates that
are built from molecular wires and molecular diode switches. These designs
correspond to conductive monomolecular circuit structures that would be one million
times smaller in area than the corresponding micron-scale digital logic circuits
fabricated on conventional solid-state semiconductor computer chips .

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 FUTURE EXPECTATIONS

Current computers are based on semiconductor logic gates which perform binary
arithmetic and logical operations. However, trend of device miniaturization will reach
its molecular-scale ultimate in the near future. Therefore the design and construction
of molecular systems capable of performing complex logic functions is of great
scientific interest now. Reduction of size is not the only advantage offered by
molecular electronics, but also the possibility of using quantum mechanical effects
(such as: tunneling, quantum interference, quantization of molecular energy levels and
discreteness of electron charge and spin) that would control the operation of Nano
devices is very promising. It appears likely that these nanometer-scale molecular
electronic logic circuits could be fabricated and tested in the foreseeable future. Much
academic research is dedicated to the development of these systems and several
prototypes now exist. Because of their potential utility in simple arithmetic these
molecular machines are also called moleculators.
Single molecule transistor technology (which has similar research status) has got
scope in chemical and biological sensing. DNA-based logic gates that could carry out
calculations inside the body have been constructed for the first time. The work brings
the prospect of injectable biocomputers programmed to target diseases as they arise.
“The bio-computer would sense biomarkers and immediately react by releasing
counter-agents for the disease.”

Risks involved in the use of nanotechnology

Apocalyptic Goo: Eric Drexler, the man who introduced the word nanotechnology,
presented a frightening apocalyptic vision -- self-replicating nanorobots
malfunctioning, duplicating themselves a trillion times over, and rapidly consuming
the entire world as they pull carbon from the environment to build more of
themselves. It's called the "grey goo" scenario, where a synthetic nano-size device
replaces all organic material. Another scenario involves nanodevices made of organic
material wiping out the Earth - the "green goo" scenario.
There are some hefty social concerns about nanotechnology. Nanotechnology may
also allow us to create more powerful weapons, both lethal and non-lethal. Thus we
should examine carefully all the possibilities of nanotechnology before designing
increasingly powerful weapons.

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There are some ethical issues also. If nanotechnology in medicine makes it possible
for us to enhance ourselves physically, is that ethical? In theory, medical
nanotechnology could make us smarter, stronger and give us other abilities ranging
from rapid healing to night vision. Should we pursue such goals? Could we continue
to call ourselves human, or would we become transhuman - the next step on man's
evolutionary path? Since almost every technology starts off as very expensive, would
this mean we'd create two races of people - a wealthy race of modified humans and a
poorer population of unaltered people? We don't have answers to these questions, but
several organizations are urging nanoscientists to consider these implications now,
before it becomes too late.
Some issues deal with the world of finance and economics. If molecular
manufacturing becomes a reality, how will that impact the world's economy?
Assuming we can build anything we need with the click of a button, what happens to
all the manufacturing jobs? If you can create anything using a replicator, what
happens to currency? Would we move to a completely electronic economy? Would we
even need money?
Thus, the power and potential of nanotechnology must be harnessed with utmost
caution and with the sole aim of benefiting the human race.

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 CONCLUSIONS

1. By taking advantage of quantum-level properties, Molecular Nanotechnology MNT

allows for unprecedented control of the material world, at the nanoscale, providing the
means by which systems and materials can be built with exacting specifications and
characteristics.
2. The use of Nanotechnology is continuously transforming daily use products,
making consumer goods plentiful, inexpensive and highly durable.
3. The medicine will take a quantum leap forward, with the use of nanotechnology.
4. Single molecule transistor technology has got scope in chemical and biological
sensing. DNA-based logic gates that could carry out calculations inside the body have
been constructed for the first time.
5. A molecular logic gate is formed that performs quantum mechanical calculations ar
to characterize some of the electrical properties of the molecular diode switches..
6. With continuous use of nanotechnology, the global life styles will change radically.
7. The nanotechnology will have a drastic impact on the human behavior and society.

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 REFERENCES

1. https://www.nanowerk.com/nanoelectronics.php
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanotechnology
3. https://www.britannica.com/technology/nanotechnology
4. https://www.nano.gov/you/nanotechnology-benefits

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