FUTURE WITH NANOTECHNOLOGY

G.CHAITANYA KEERTHAN ECE (III/IV) keertan_12@rediffmail.com G.GANGADHAR ECE (III/IV) ganga_mvgr@yahoo.co.in

MAHARAJ VIJAYARAM GAJAPATHIRAJ COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

ABSTRACT:
Todays most intriguing, curiositydriven and promising area of technology is by far the nanotechnology. Technology concerns the building of useful things based on known scientific principles. Thus nanotechnology means building of useful things based on things of dimensions at the nanometer level. The scientific community to describe various phenomena occurring in these tiny structural domains often uses various words with prefix nano. Understanding of the science of nanomaterials is important and curiosity-driven not only because of the fascinating nature of the subject itself but also for its overwhelming and novel applications of various nanoscale systems in almost all branches of technology. Nanotechnology cuts across disciplines without a thought. From physics, we have tools that allow us to see and manipulate matter at unprecedented small scales. From chemistry, we have methods for synthesizing and assembling molecules, from materials science; we know that this is also the scale of a cell. The reason that nanotechnology is causing so much excitement is the potential to bring together all these disciplines to tackle common problemsand, of course, solve them with a plethora of new applications. The present paper attempts in a nutshell to give a peripheral sketch towards the understanding of this amazing subject of nanomaterials.

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I.INTRODUCTION:
(a) What is Nanotechnology? The origin of the term nano comes from the Greek word for dwarf, but in scientific jargon, nano means 10-9. So, a nanometer is a billionth of a meter, that is, the size of ten atoms or so, or 1/80,000 of the diameter of a human hair, or 10 times the diameter of a hydrogen atom. The nanotechnology is an anticipated manufacturing technology that allows thorough, inexpensive control of the structure of matter by working with a few numbers of atoms, thus leading to the production of machines or devices at the nanometer scale. It is, therefore, a scientific advancement that is as important as the discovery of the first tool. However, unlike metallurgy, natural substances are not used as the starting materials, but atomsthe ingredients of the universe. (b) History: The concept of nanotechnology, however, dates back to the history of the famous lecture that Nobel Laureate Richard Feynman gave in 1959: The principles of physics, as far as I can see, do not speak against the possibility of maneuvering things atom by atom. Later, Drexler expanded Feynmans philosophical thinking in a most stimulating manner in his book Engines of Creation. To quote Drexler (1960): Nanotechnology is the principle of atom manipulation atom by atom, through control of the structure of matter at the molecular level. It entails the ability to build molecular systems with atom-by-atom, yielding a variety of nanomachines. (c) Do nano-particles obey natural laws? As technology has advanced, things have gradually been miniaturized. Machines that were a metre in size have been

reduced to a hundredth the size (centimetre) and even smaller. For example, the integrated circuit components used in microelectronics operate at the micro level. In fact, blood capillaries are of micrometre dimensions. In addition to the importance of developing new generation electronics, when confined to nanostructures, follow quantum mechanics and exhibit their wave-like natures. (d) Can we build machines one size smaller than micro, which is at the nano level? Obviously, there is no reason why it will not be possible if nanodimensional structures can exist in biology? A typical example is the ribosome that has a dimension of few thousand cubic nanometers and can manufacture almost any protein by binding together amino acids (building blocks of proteins) in a precise linear sequence. The structures of protein molecules are all different, because they have evolved to fulfill different tasks in different ways. Proteins and other biological macromolecules normally act individually carrying out one highly specific task in the nanometer-sized network of the cells business. Therefore, nanometer is the length scale in which the macromolecules of the living cell store information, process it and convert it into function. (e)Approach to Nanotechnology: A key-property of biological nanostructures is the molecular recognition, leading to self-assembly and the templating of atomic and molecular structures. Those who wish to create defined nanostructures would like to develop systems that emulate this behavior. Thus rather than milling down

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from macroscopic level (top down approach) using tools of greater precision and cost, they would like to build nanostructures from the bottom up approach is the structural repeatability of a complex component over a vast chemical scale. Therefore, building nanomachines is not a science fiction, rather it is a reality. Because such machines have the dimensions of the size of atoms, few atoms or groups of atoms---molecules--must be used. (f) Is Nanotechnology synonymous with Chemistry? It may encompass all of chemistry, a large part of physics and molecular biology and it may be more concerned with observing atoms and molecules and manipulating them through visual observation at the nanometer level. The discovery of nanotechnology in the broadest sense has immediate implications, since we can design a whole new range of machines or devices from nanoscale objects, but not necessarily by breaking up matter into individual atoms. As we shrink the dimension from macro to nano device, physics becomes increasingly dominated by the surfaces. Nanoscale systems are so small that this assumption breaks down completely. (g) Is Nanotechnology science fictional? No, most of the scientists and researches had confirmed that Nanotechnology is not science fictional but a reality. Nanotechnology will make us wealthy though not necessarily wise. In a few decades, this emerging manufacturing technology will let us inexpensively arrange atoms and molecules in most of the ways permitted by physical law. It will let us make supercomputers that fit on the head of a pin and fleets of medical nanorobots smaller than a human cell able

to eliminate cancer, infections, clogged arteries, and even old age. People will look back on this era with the same feelings we have toward medieval times-when technology was primitive and almost everyone lived in poverty and died young. Besides, new medical capabilities that will heal and cure in cases that are now viewed as utterly hopeless, this new and very precise way of fabricating products will also eliminate the pollution from current manufacturing methods. Molecular manufacturing will make exactly what it is supposed to make, no more and no less, and therefore won't make pollutants. (h)Is Nanotechnology nearer? When nanotechnology pioneer Eric Drexler first dared to publish this vision back in the early 1980s, the response was skeptical, at best. It seemed too good to be true, and many scientists pronounced the whole thing impossible. But the laws of physics care little for either our hopes or our fears, and subsequent analysis kept returning the same answer: it will take time, but it is not only possible but almost unavoidable. Fig.1

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Computational power has increased exponentially while the finest feature sizes have steadily shrunk into the deep submicron range. And if we can arrange atoms into molecular computers, why not a whole range of other molecularly precise products?

nanochip devices may become the standard in electronics.

II. NANOTECHNOLOGY IN VARIOUS FIELDS

A.CARBON NANOTUBES---A MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH IN TRANSISTOR TECHNOLOGY The features of conventional microelectronic circuits are getting smaller and smaller and will soon reach the limit imposed by the fundamental properties of silicon. Physicists are optimistic that carbon nanotubes can step into the breach because of their remarkable electronic and mechanical properties. These nanotubes are tiny cylinders of carbon atoms that measure atoms 10 atoms across, are 500 times smaller than todays silicon-based transistors and 1000 times stronger the steel. In 1998, it was demonstrated for the first time that such a carbon nanotube can be used as a transistor. The IBM scientists in 2001 made a breakthrough in transistor technology by building worlds first array of transistors out of carbon nanotubes. This achievement was an important step in finding materials that can be used to build computer chips when silicon-based chips cannot be made. (1)Will the performance of these molecular transistors be really being able to supersede that of the conventional silicon devices? Certainly if the nanotube transistor has to succeed, it will need a molecular circuitary that beats the microchips in size and speed. In a distant future, such molecular Fig.2Carbon nanotube in silicon dioxide Fig.3 Single walled carbon nanotube: An ideal carbonnanotube can be thought of as a hexagonal network of carbon atoms that has been rolled up to make a seamless cylinder. Just a nanometer across, the cylinder can be tens of microns long and each end is capped with a half a fullerene molecule. Pure carbon can occur not only in the forms of three-dimensional lattice of diamond. The most symmetrical species is a molecule having a shape of a soccer ball. These large carbon-cage molecules are called buckministerfullerences or simply as buckyballs. Fullerence structure is a molecule with 60 corners and each of the corners is surrounded by two hexagons and one pentagon. Theoreticians predicted that individual tubes made up of rolled graphite should have intriguing properties. Ordinary graphite is a conductor in the directions parallel to its carbon layers, and an insulator in the direction perpendicular to them. Graphite when coiled, the

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carbon arrangement becomes very strong. In fact, nanotubes have been known to be up to one hundred times as strong as steel and almost two millimeters long. They have the ability to be either metallic or semi-conducting depending on the twist of the tube.

Fig.5 Nanophotonics This technique will be used not only to observe photo processes, but also to initiate or address a particular location within the nanostructure. This work will facilitate important new technologies, such as optical integrated circuits, nanolasers, optical computing, light harvesting, and nano-sized optical interconnects for telecommunications. This work will affect other forms of energy exchange in nanostructures, such as spin or charge migration, with potential impact in quantum computing and solar energy applications.

Fig.4 Polarization with nanotubes

A sheet of nanotubes created by a new process emits polarized light when electricity is applied.

B.NANOPHOTONICS The goal of nanophotonics research at the Center for Nanoscale Materials (CNM) is to investigate the photo physics and photochemistry at the nanoscale that govern the initiation and control of photon flow in nanostructures. This can be accomplished by utilizing the localized electromagnetic fields on the surfaces of nanoparticles, which are known as nearfields or evanescent fields. The spatial extent of the near-fields can be tens of nanometers or less and can be spatially resolved through recent advances in nearfield scanning optical microscopy (NSOM). Research at the CNM will seek to gain insight into these processes by coupling time-resolved spectroscopes of photo initiated events with the high spatial resolution of NSOM.

Fig.6 Energy Nanostructures

exchange

in

C. NANOELECTRONICS

Fig.7Californian scientists have produced the

first electrical switch to be made from carbon nanotubes. They hope that eventually they will replace silicon in computer chips, leading to faster and cheaper components.

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(a) Breakthrough in Electronics by Nanoswitch The new transistors begin life as straight nanotubes before the addition of titaniummodified iron catalyst particles prompts new growth, like a branch from a tree, to create a Y-shaped tube as the catalyst is absorbed at the junction of the stem and the new growth. When electrical contacts are attached electrons travel into one arm of the Y, hop onto the catalyst particle, and then hop to the other arm and flow outward. By applying a voltage to the stem this movement can be controlled or, as chip engineers say, gated: a positive charge stimulates the flow creating an 'on' signal, while an 'off' signal is created by reversing the current so the movement of electrons stops. Nanotubes have one further advantage over silicon technology. The cheap chemical process used to make then contrasts with the complex process of etching and layering that goes into making silicon circuits D. NANOTECHNOLOGY IN MEDICINE

If the drug is water-soluble, it becomes trapped within a matrix of tiny interconnected, water-filled channels in the material. If it's water-insoluble, the drug is trapped within nano-spaces in the polymer network, and slowly leaches out into the channels. When the lens is in place, the contact with the fluid on the eyeball causes these channels to open up and slowly release the drug. The polymeric nanostructure allows the lenses to be permeable to gases, salts, nutrients, water and other substances found in eye fluid. (a)Nanotechnology against bioterror Anthrax is an infectious and often deadly bacterial disease spread by contact with infected animals, handling infected products, eating infected meat or breathing anthrax spores. A company in Illinois, USA, is developing a new anthrax vaccine containing calcium phosphate nanoparticles. These nanoparticles are part of an adjuvant developed by Bio Sante Pharmaceuticals. An adjuvant is a substance which, when added to a vaccine, boosts the size of the resulting immune response. The new vaccine will contain both anthrax antigens and the new adjuvant. At the moment, the only approved anthrax-vaccine adjuvants are aluminium salt derivatives. But these can cause irritation and inflammation at the injection site, or an allergic reaction. (b)NANOTECHNOLOGY DETECTS

Fig.8 Researchers invent drugdispensing contact lenses for the treatment of eye diseases. Nanotechnology researchers had invented a contact lens that can release precise amounts of medication to treat glaucoma and other diseases. The technique of mixing of a drug with a pre-polymeric liquid and then by polymerizing it will give the transparent lens with special treatment.

BACTERIA Fig.9 A group of researchers at Texas A&M

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University has developed a nanotechnology to rapidly detect and identify bacteria. The researchers call their technique 'SEnsing of Phage-Triggered Ion Cascade', or SEPTIC

III.CHALLENGES CONFRONTING NANOTECHNOLOGY

A major challenge facing nanotechnology is how to make a desired nanostructure and then integrate it into a fully functional system visible to the human eye. This requires creating an interface between structures built at the nanometer scale and structures built at the micrometer scale. The properties of nanocrystals are extremely sensitive to their size, composition, and surface properties. Any tiny change can result in dramatically different physical properties. Preventing such changes requires high precision in the development of nanostructure synthesis and fabrication. Only after this is achieved can the reproducibility of nanostructurebased devices be improved to a satisfactory level. Carbon nanotubes come in two flavors; one is metallic and the other is semiconducting. The semiconducting flavor makes good transistors. However, when these carbon nanotubes are produced, mixtures of metallic and semiconducting tubes are entangled together and so do not make good transistors. Fig.10 Nanomushroom -An unexpected result at a unusual place

This 'nanomushroom' happened to grow among a field of nanowires. The mushroom may not be quite what the group was looking for, but it is a great example of the range of shapes nanostructures can come in. Some people have recently, publicly realized that nanotechnology might create new concerns that we should address. Any powerful technology can be used to do great harm as well as great good. If the vision of nanotechnology sketched earlier is even partly right, we are in for some major changes--as big as the changes ushered in by the Industrial Revolution. Drexler discussed these issues extensively in his 1986 book Engines of Creation, and, in a remarkably prescient essay first published in 1988, called "A Dialog on Dangers," outlined the concerns that have since come to the fore. One solution was proposed by Bill Joy, cofounder and chief scientist of Sun Microsystems Inc., would be to "relinquish" research and development of nanotechnology to avoid any possible adverse consequences. Experts believe possible dangers of nanotechnology lie in how these tiny particles might interact with the environment, and more importantly, with the human body. "Telling researchers not to research nanotechnology and companies not to build when there are fortunes to be made...will push research underground where it can't be regulated"

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IV. CONCLUSION: (FUTURE IMPACT NANOTECHNOLOGY) OF

Nanotechnology is expected to have a variety of economic, social, environmental, and national security impacts. In 2000 the National Science Foundation began working with the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) to address nanotechnologys possible impacts and to propose ways of minimizing any undesirable consequences. Nanotechnology breakthroughs may result in the loss of some jobs. Just as the development of the automobile destroyed the markets for the many products associated with horse-based transportation and led to the loss of many jobs, transformative products based on nanotechnology will inevitably lead to a similar result in some contemporary industries. As nanomaterials are invisible to the human eye; extra caution must be taken to avoid releasing these particles into the environment. Some preliminary studies point to possible carcinogenic properties of carbon nanotubes. However, the vast majority of nanotechnology-based products will contain nanomaterials bound together with other materials or components, rather than free-floating nano-sized objects, and will therefore not pose such a risk. At the same time, nanotechnology breakthroughs are expected to have many environmental benefits such as reducing the emission of air pollutants and cleaning up oil spills. The large surface areas of nanomaterials give them a significant capacity to absorb various chemicals. Finally, nanotechnology can be expected to have national security uses that could both improve military forces and allow for

better monitoring of peace and inspection agreements. Efforts to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons or to detect the existence of biological and chemical weapons, for example, could be improved with nanotech devices. "Nanotechnology's potential to improve the human condition is staggering: we would be shirking our duty to future generations if we did not responsibly develop it"

V. REFERENCES 1. P. Chakraborty, Journal of Materials Science 33, 2235, 1998. 2. Understanding Nanomaterials by C. Purushottam, THE INDIAN SCIENCE CONGRESS ASSOCIATION. 3. Nano-Research (Website: www.zyvex.com) 4. Physics Web --- Carbon nanotubes http://physicswb.org/article/world/11/1/9 /1. 5. Peidong Yang, David E. Luzzi, Microsoft Encarta Reference. 6. Lars Samuelson, Self-forming Nanoscale Devices, Materials Today, p. 22 October 2003. 7. K. Eric Drexler, Engines of Creation, The Coming Age of Nanotechnology, Fourth Estate, London, pp.296, 1960.

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