Nano Technology: The Future of Today

[Mohendra Roy]

Today wherever you go u will find people talking about nanao. now what is nano? Nano is the unit of length=10^-9. in nano technology it is the collection of atoms having dimension in nano range. Almost all the property of the particle changes to that of the bulk.

 

[Astronuc]

Nano refers to submicron. In polycrystalline materials, e.g. metals or ceramics, grains are on the order of several microns. In nano-engineering, materials engineers/scientists are trying to 'manipulate' or control the grain microstructures and grain bounday composition and morphology.

This past week, I saw some interesting presentations on nano-engineering of structural materials this week, including 'grain boundary engineering' for improved mechanical and corrosion performance by reducing the 'mis-orientations' or mis-fits at grain boundaries.

 

[Claude Bile]

Its not just the mechanical properties that can be changed, the optical properties can also be tweaked by changing the shape of nanoparticles, for example gold nanorods will absorb and scatter light differently to gold nanospheres.

This is essentially because the plasmon resonances in a nanoparticle are entirely surface resonances (no bulk resonances), which are very sensitive to the surrounding environment.

Claude.

 

[System Engineer]

Nano Hype

I was preparing a presentation the other day and i cam across a paper by IOP which was quite good one. Its not that Nano Industry is another industry just like computers, rather its an enabling tech just like transistors which can be used to make up anything. The recent hype is similar to the dotcom bubble and it has created myths for many people. Fact of the matter is that it just alllows us the ability to manipulate the matter at nano matter scael and nothing else.

 

[Andre]

Sorry, can't help it, slightly OT but I think I should share this about nano as prefix for units.

Apart from the nanometer getting more important, we also have the bananometer, being the unit of distance defined as the distance covered between tripping over a banano peel and hitting the ground. Also, bananosecond, defined as the time frame in which this happens.

 

[Pythagorean]

Its not just the mechanical properties that can be changed, the optical properties can also be tweaked by changing the shape of nanoparticles, for example gold nanorods will absorb and scatter light differently to gold nanospheres.

This is essentially because the plasmon resonances in a nanoparticle are entirely surface resonances (no bulk resonances), which are very sensitive to the surrounding environment.

Claude.

This makes me think nanotech's should get together with the people who just recently froze light in a condensate.

I'm starting to think condensates are the future.

 

[3trQN]

This makes me think nanotech's should get together with the people who just recently froze light in a condensate.

I'm starting to think condensates are the future.

Whats your source of "frozen light" information?

 

[Pythagorean]

Whats your source of "frozen light" information?

ah yes, apologies... form harvard:

http://www.hno.harvard.edu/gazette/2001/01.24/01-stoplight.html

 

[Mickey]

What a great time to bring that up. I'm at the cusp of going to grad school for something and I'm torn between condensates and nano. :/

 

[Signifier]

Are you guys talking about molecular nanotechnology (MNT, a la Drexler, Merkle, Freitas) or something else?

 

[Mickey]

Are you guys talking about molecular nanotechnology (MNT, a la Drexler, Merkle, Freitas)

Sure, those are some of the popular names.

But, so far, nanotechnology seems to include only fermionic structures (chemistry), and has not yet included bosonic structures (condensed matter physics).

If the two fields can interact in an interesting ways, that would be chic.

 

[berkeman]

ah yes, apologies... form harvard:

http://www.hno.harvard.edu/gazette/2001/01.24/01-stoplight.html

That's a pretty interesting article. At first I thought it was a joke, but it seems to be serious. Especially the part about publishing in Nature.

That article is from 2001, and the latest that I can find about this is from 2002. Does anybody know what the latest status of that project is? The part where the light re-emits going the *same* direction from the cloud is pretty amazing if true.

 

[Mickey]

Just a few weeks ago, an article about reversing and accelerating the speed of light through meta-materials.

http://www.external.ameslab.gov/final/News/2006rel/metamaterials.htm

AMES, IA – Physicist Costas Soukoulis and his research group at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory on the Iowa State University campus are having the time of their lives making light travel backwards at negative speeds that appear faster than the speed of light.

Some videos too.

 

[Pythagorean]

That's a pretty interesting article. At first I thought it was a joke, but it seems to be serious. Especially the part about publishing in Nature.

That article is from 2001, and the latest that I can find about this is from 2002. Does anybody know what the latest status of that project is? The part where the light re-emits going the *same* direction from the cloud is pretty amazing if true.

I did a little more research and found this, last updated 2003:

"Dr. Hau’s scientific and service contributions have been recognized through honors that include the MacArthur Fellow 2001-2006;"

I'm assuming that once the grant money runs out (some time this year) she'll release results for refinancing. I have very little knowledge of science financing, so this is just an undergraduate's assumption.

 

[Pythagorean]

Sure, those are some of the popular names.

But, so far, nanotechnology seems to include only fermionic structures (chemistry), and has not yet included bosonic structures (condensed matter physics).

If the two fields can interact in an interesting ways, that would be chic.

I agree. I don't really know enough about either field to fully comprehend the meaning of this assertion, but it sounds very appealing.

 

[ZapperZ]

Sure, those are some of the popular names.

But, so far, nanotechnology seems to include only fermionic structures (chemistry), and has not yet included bosonic structures (condensed matter physics).

If the two fields can interact in an interesting ways, that would be chic.

Er... since when is "fermionic structures" implies chemistry and "bosonic structures" is condensed matter physics?

Have you looked at the section where nanoscience papers are published in Phys. Rev. Lett.?

Zz.

 

[Mickey]

Er... since when is "fermionic structures" implies chemistry and "bosonic structures" is condensed matter physics?

An online particle physics tutorial and other sources I've read have associated them this way. Fermions obey Pauli-exclusion and allow the creation of ordinary matter and bosons don't and form condensed matter.

I understand it's not a strict pairing, since some molecules have additive integer spin and exhibit some bosonic behavior. Sorry, I should have realized that that was poorly worded.

Have you looked at the section where nanoscience papers are published in Phys. Rev. Lett.?

Do you mean the "Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics" section? I've been looking for physical "nanoscience" articles for a while now, and I'm starting to get the impression that physicists aren't especially fond of the word.

 

[ZapperZ]

An online particle physics tutorial and other sources I've read have associated them this way. Fermions obey Pauli-exclusion and allow the creation of ordinary matter and bosons don't and form condensed matter.

I understand it's not a strict pairing, since some molecules have additive integer spin and exhibit some bosonic behavior. Sorry, I should have realized that that was poorly worded.
Do you mean the "Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics" section? I've been looking for physical "nanoscience" articles for a while now, and I'm starting to get the impression that physicists aren't especially fond of the word.

You need to be more careful with the terminology. "Condensed matter physics" is a FIELD of study in physics. "Condensates" or "BE condensation" is a state of matter due to bosons. These two are NOT the same thing.

http://www.physicspost.com/science-article-209.html

Zz.

 

[Mickey]

Ohhh, I see. Not "BE condensates," though, because that's redundant? Thank you for that post and the link to Coleman's paper.

So, do you know of any interesting links between BE condensation and nanoscience?

 

[ZapperZ]

Ohhh, I see. Not "BE condensates," though, because that's redundant?

No, it isn't. You obviously missed the recent discovery of Fermionic condensates.

Zz.

 

[Mickey]

Really, I didn't know it was that obvious.

Those question marks in the last row of Colemen's broken symmetry table are pretty exciting, btw.

 

[Pythagorean]

You need to be more careful with the terminology. "Condensed matter physics" is a FIELD of study in physics. "Condensates" or "BE condensation" is a state of matter due to bosons. These two are NOT the same thing.

http://www.physicspost.com/science-article-209.html

Zz.

so what field of study is Condensates in? I always thought Plasma Physics was its own field and so since Condensates are yet a fifth state of matter (plasma being the fourth) it was natural for me to assume that Condensates are its own field by now.

 

[ZapperZ]

so what field of study is Condensates in? I always thought Plasma Physics was its own field and so since Condensates are yet a fifth state of matter (plasma being the fourth) it was natural for me to assume that Condensates are its own field by now.

BE condensates straddle both condensed matter and atomic/molecular/optics field. This is why you see such subject matter being presented at the APS March meetings.

Zz.

 

[Pythagorean]

BE condensates straddle both condensed matter and atomic/molecular/optics field. This is why you see such subject matter being presented at the APS March meetings.

Zz.

If there's no program complimentar to condensates at my University, what do you think the chances of starting one are. There's at least two of us undergrads interested in condensates, and we've haven't started scoping out admin/faculty/staff yet, but that's a different story.

I'm more interested in what kind of national/state support I could get in Alaska. I'm under the impression that condensates are the new hot topic in physics.

 

[Gokul43201]

Just a reminder, Pyth, that this thread is about nanoscale physics.

You might want to start a new thread in A&CG exploring specific questions of teaching certain advanced physics courses (like BECs) in undergraduate programs.