Modern technological society is increasingly concerned with high performance materials, and in achieving good efficiency in energy conversion, communications, computation, and chemical processing. This is evidenced by the high demand of microelectronics, and they have become an integral part of our lives nowadays – computers, cell phones, iPods, automobiles, aerospace systems, and biomedical systems all consist of these ever-shrinking microelectronics. The advances in microelectronics technologies have brought and will continue to bring convenience to our daily lives, enhance health and safety, and help to make major scientific discoveries among many other advantages. The market demand for and applications of microelectronics are expanding rapidly ranging from consumer electronics to industry, homeland security, medical science, aerospace applications and so on, making great synergy with the existing technology.
In the last decade, various aspects of nanotechnology have been actively investigated to achieve specific goals in materials, medicine, electronics, and energy production. By dexterous manipulation of molecules, innovative concepts of materials and devices have been proposed and developed. Such molecular manufacturing requires rigorous understanding of the fundamental science underlying molecular structures and its applications to artificial manipulation of molecules in order to achieve specific functions with high efficiency. Upon the completion of such functional materials at the molecular level, the interface from nanoscale to micro- and macro- scale should be provided to lead the novel nanomaterials to a real marketplace.
This short course will cover topics from atomic-level handling to molecular level manufacturing and, ultimately to final applications. Major research and development in nanotechnology will be reviewed through the talks. Professor Mark Hersam will discuss atomic level manipulation by scanning probe microscopy. High resolution lithography can lead to modification of surface properties at the atomic level, which potentially benefit storage devices of extremely high density. Professor Hersam will also provide an introduction to the properties and processing of carbon nanotubes. In particular, a scalable and industrially viable strategy for producing monodisperse carbon nanotubes that was recently invented in the Hersam Laboratory will be featured. As a fundamental building block toward multi-functional materials, nanoscale porous materials are discussed by Professor Don Ellis. The materials can be used for selective separation of molecules and molecular sensors. Requirements for regulation of mass and charge transport at the ion/electron level, in gas phase, and for molecular separations, catalysis, and sensing provide a set of 'chemical criteria' for design. Requirements for device stability and useful operational lifetime will impose possibly conflicting 'physical criteria.' Another important method for producing nano-scale structures is via thin film deposition. These can be in the form of nano-layered structures or self-assembled three dimensional structures. Professor Barnett will introduce the basics of thin film deposition methods, nucleation and structure, and properties. Properties to be discussed will include mechanical, electrical, and electrochemical, the latter relevant to thin and thick films in solid oxide fuel cells.
Upon the synthesis of novel materials, the characterization and manipulation of such materials with high accuracy will be a major challenge. This will be addressed by Professor Wing Kam Liu with modeling and simulation using the newly developed Immersed Electrokinetic Finite Element Method (IEFEM) coupled with multiscale physics to treat a complex multi-body interaction problem that contains deformable objects, ions, and fluids. The ions in the aforementioned problem complicate the situation by affecting the flow regime and distribution of the charges upon imposing an electric field. The solution to this problem has important implications in micro/nano fluidic devices for bioengineering and medical applications. By using unique multiscale simulation tools, the handling of various nano-/bio- materials is mainly discussed with future prospects. The interface between nanomaterials and micro- or macro- scale devices requires intermediate nanostructures as a platform, which is achieved by nanomanufacturing steps. Nanoscale fabrication methods will be discussed by Professor Jae-Hyun Chung. Top-down methods in nanoscale science are reviewed with recently developed nanomanufacturing methods. On the other hand, bottom-up approaches assembling nanomaterials are introduced with new directions to designing nanoscale devices.
As future applications, micro/nanofluidic devices will be discussed with critical challenges by Professor Arun Majumdar. The scaling issues in energy production and fluids and heat transfer are discussed with emphasis on nanoscale fluidic phenomena and devices. These are relevant for processes such as energy-efficient separation of fuels. Nanoscale fluidic phenomena are also relevant for energy storage devices such as batteries. Furthermore, nanofluidics is important in analyzing and processing biological molecules. Nanoscale heat and charge transport are important in many energy applications such as thermoelectric refrigeration and power generation. A fundamental understanding of how chemical bonding and nanostructures influence transport is critical for these applications. Professor Majumdar will introduce the subject from macroscopic concepts and then highlight the differences in both science and engineering at the micro/nanoscales.
Course Credit and Pre-requisites
The total number of contact hours for the five day program
is 27, and 2.7 CEUs. There are certain pre-requisites
for each topic. In order to maximize the learning experience,
we will provide course materials to students prior to
the class. |
