Nanotechnology – The Comprehensive Elucidation

Smita Prasad, Sravani Hanumansetty, Tejaswi Rudraraju, Deepthi Boddana

2 nd year CSE, Al-Ameer College of Engineering and Technology

Nanotechnology, or, as it is sometimes called, molecular manufacturing, is a branch of

engineering that deals with the design and manufacture of extremely small electronic circuits and
mechanical devices built at the molecular level of matter. The prefix nano means ten to the minus ninth
power, or one billionth. Nanoscale technologies are the development and use of devices that have a size of
only a few nanometers.

The foundations of nanotechnology have emerged over many decades of research in many
different fields. Dr. Richard Feynman suggested that it should be possible to build machines small enough
to manufacture objects with atomic precision. In the limited number of years that nanotechnology has been
considered possible, a number of uses of nanotechnology have emerged that include quantum computers,
long term life preservation and virtually everything in between. The goals of nanotechnology range from
biotech applications to nano-assemblers, nano-computers, and nano-chips along with molecular electronics.

The context of this paper is to bring to limelight, the saga of nanotechnology and its endeavor to
provide solutions to the future, thus enriching today’s advanced technology.

The foundations of nanotechnology have emerged over many decades of research in many
different fields. Dr. Richard Feynman suggested that it should be possible to build machines small enough
to manufacture objects with atomic precision. In a lecture delivered on December 29, 1959, Feynman
proposed work in a field "in which little has been done, but in which an enormous amount can be done in
principle." His talk, "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom," is widely considered to be the foreshadowing
of nanotechnology. Feynman described how the entire Encyclopedia Britannica could be written on the
head of a pin, and how all the world's books could fit in a pamphlet. Among other things, he predicted that
information could be stored with amazing density. Feynman saw atomic manipulation as inevitable; "A
development which I think cannot be avoided."

The amount of space available to us for information storage (or other uses) is enormous. As first
described in a lecture titled, 'There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom' in 1959 by Nobel Prize -winning
physicist Richard P. Feynman, “there is nothing besides our clumsy size that keeps us from using this
space”. In his time, it was not possible to manipulate single atoms or molecules because they were far too
small for our tools. Thus, his speech was completely theoretical and seemingly fantastic. He described how
the laws of physics do not limit our ability to manipulate single atoms and molecules. Instead, it was our
lack of the appropriate methods for doing so. However, he correctly predicted that the time would come in
which atomically precise manipulation of matter would inevitably arrive. The basic concept was outlined
by Feynman, when he said “The principles of physics, as far as I can see, do not speak against the
possibility of maneuvering things atom by atom. It is not an attempt to violate any laws; it is something, in
principle, that can be done; but in practice, it has not been done because we are too big”. He described
building with atomic precision, and even sketched out a pathway involving a series of increasingly smaller
machines. He explained, “if we go down far enough, all of our devices can be mass produced so that they
are absolutely perfect copies of one another.”

Prof. Feynman described such atomic scale fabrication as a bottom-up approach, as opposed to
the top-down approach that we are accustomed to. The current top-down method for manufacturing
involves the construction of parts through methods such as cutting, carving and molding. Using these
methods, we have been able to fabricate a remarkable variety of machinery and electronics devices.
However, the sizes at which we can make these devices, is severely limited by our ability to cut, carve and
mold. Bottom-up manufacturing, on the other hand, would provide components made of single molecules,
which are held together by covalent forces that are far stronger than the forces that hold together macro -
scale components. Furthermore, the amount of information that could be stored in devices build from the
bottom-up would be enormous.

Since that initial preview of nanotechnology, several methods have been developed which prove
that Prof. Feynman was correct in his prophesy. The most notable methods are scanning probe

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microscopy and the corresponding advancements in supra-molecular chemistry. Scanning probe
microscopy gives us the ability to position single atoms and/or molecules in the desired place exactly as
Prof. Feynman had predicted. Although the limitations of traditional chemistry were criticized in Prof.
Feynman's lecture due to its seemingly tedious and random nature, recent advancements have improved its
potential uses for nanotechnology.

The pursuit of nanotechnology

comprises a wide variety of disciplines:
chemistry, physics, mechanical engineering,
materials science, molecular biology, and
computer science. While participation from the
natural sciences is needed, the field is primarily
one of technology development of engineering
rather than a scientific endeavor per se.

While semiconductor technology regularly comes up with astonishing advances, Moore's Law
predicts that by about 2015, we must be working at the molecular level to stay competitive. Molecular
nanotechnology is the likeliest candidate for providing this ultimate precision in manufacturing. For the
past forty years, electronic computers have grown more powerful as their basic sub-unit, the transistor, has
shrunk. However, the laws of quantum mechanics, plus the limitations of materials and fabrication
techniques soon are likely to inhibit further reduction in the minimum size of today's bulk-effect
semiconductor transistors. Researchers have projected that as the overall size of the bulk-effect,
semiconductor transistor is aggressively miniaturized to approximately 0.1 micron (i.e., 100 nanometers)
and beyond, the devices may no longer function as well.

Thus, in order to continue the miniaturization of integrated circuits well into the present century, it
is likely that present day, nano-scale or nanoelectronic device designs will be replaced with new designs for
devices that take advantage of the quantum mechanical effects that dominate on the much smaller,
nanometer scale . This paper briefly surveys such quantum-effect, nanometer-scale alternatives to micron-
scale, and bulk-effect transistors for use in electronic digital circuits. Nanoelectronic devices subdivide
into two broad areas, as follows:
Ø Solid-state quantum-effect nanoelectronic devices: Solid-state quantum-effect nanoelectronic
devices are the nearer-term alternative for continuing to increase the density and speed of information
processing. This technology, which changes the operating principles, but not the solid fabrication medium
for integrated circuits, might extend Moore's Law of electronics miniaturization to produce devices down to
25 nm in length, beyond the domain of the bulk-effect transistor. Present-day field effect transistors (FETs)
on commercial integrated circuits are approximately 1 micron or 1000 nm across, and even the most
optimistic proponents of aggressively miniaturized bulk-effect FETs predict that they will cease to function
effectively when their gate lengths dip below 25 nm, which corresponds to an overall device length of
approximately 100 nm. By contrast, quantum-effect switching devices tend to function better when they are
made smaller. Solid state quantum-effect nanoelectronic devices might be made as small as approximately
12 to 25 nanometers across and still function effectively if they could be fabricated reliably and uniformly
on that scale. Presently, mass fabrication on this small scale does present a set of formidable challenges, no
matter what the device design. However, a number of solid-state nanoelectronic switching devices have
been fabricated and demonstrated, and prototype solid-state nanoelectronic processors already are
operational, as well. Moreover, the drastic decrease in size that could result from the wide-scale
introduction of such nanoelectronic devices might produce ultra -fast, low power integrated circuits with as
many as 100 billion or even 1 trillion switching devices on a single CPU chip, as well as Terabyte non-
evanescent memories on a chip. Such great advances would require, however, the reliable, uniform mass
fabrication of features only 5 to 10 nanometers wide in solids. This is at least twenty-five times as small as
is achievable using UV lithography, the present industrial method of choice. More modest, near term goals
do not require such extreme precision, but take advantage of other very desirable properties of solid-state
quantum-effect devices, such as low power consumption and high speed.

As is indicated in Figure 1, there are 3 basic categories of solid-state nanoelectronic devices: (1)
Quantum Dots (or "artificial atoms"), (2) Resonant Tunneling Devices, and (3) Single-Electron Transistors
(SETs). A small "island" composed of semiconductor or metal in which electrons may be confined is the
essential structural feature that all these quantum-effect, solid -state nanoelectronic devices have in

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common. The island in a nanoelectronic device assumes a role analogous to that of the channel that forms
beneath the gate in a familiar microelectronic field-effect transistor when it is switched on. The
composition, shape, and size of the island give the different types of solid state nanoelectronic devices their
distinct properties. Controlling these factors permits the designer of the device to employ quantum effects
in different ways to control the passage of electrons on to and off of the island.

Ø Molecular Electronic Devices

Ultimately, however, it will be desirable to build ultra dense, low-power nanoelectronic circuits
made from purely nanometer-scale switching devices and wires. Molecular electronics--using individual
covalently bonded molecules to act as wires and switching devices--is the longer-term alternative for
achieving this increase in density and for continuing Moore's Law down to the nanometer scale. Individual
molecular switching devices could be as small as 1.5 nanometers across, with densities of approximately
1012 devices per sq. cm. This decrease in size could result in Terabyte memories on a chip and in excess of
one trillion switching-devices on a single CPU chip. A primary advantage of molecular electronics is that
molecules are natural nanometer-scale structures that can be made absolutely identical in vast quantities
(approximately 1023 at one time).

Despite enormous recent progress in the fabrication and demonstration of nanoelectronic devices,
many challenges remain. For solid state nanoelectronics, one of the most important challenges is to be able
to produce reliably and uniformly in silicon the characteristic nanometer-scale features required for
nanoelectronics: nanometer-scale islands, barriers, and "heterojunctions" between islands and barriers. Up
to now, solid state nanoelectronic devices largely have been fabricated in III/V semi-conductor compounds
such as gallium arsenide and aluminumarsenide. It is believed, however, that silicon nanoelectronics would
go a long way toward permitting the inexpensive mass manufacture of nanoelectronic devices.

So, how can this exciting new nanotechnology be used in medicine? "Nanomedicine is the
preservation and improvement of human health using nanotools and molecular knowledge of the human
body."

Although it’s not quite the spectacle of the film Fantastic Voyage, as of right now, Gilead
Sciences ™ is selling a drug delivery mechanism using lipid spheres (liposomes) of 100 nanometers in

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diameter that encase an anticancer drug. In addition, nanoprobes have been found to kill cancer in mice
recently but the uses far exceed that.

One application is improved imaging of the human (or any) body. Before you can treat a disease,
you must diagnose it. Nanoprobes (miniature machines) can do just that. They can attach themselves to
particles in the body (antibodies for one) and emit a magnetic field. This allows easy tracking, and probes
that aren’t attached to anything don’t create a detectable magnetic signal (because they tumble about
randomly so they don’t make a net signal) so you don’t have to figure out which probes you should
disregard. This technique has already proved more sensible than standard techniques, and improvements
may enhance its sensibility several hundred times. In spite of this, it is unlikely that it will completely
replace the current method of fluorescent tags, for that technique is more useful when more than one object
must be tracked (as you can use different colors.) Yet nano-tracking may be able to detect tumors but a few
cells in size.

Another way to use nanotechnology as tracking devices is to use “quantum dots.” These tiny
semiconductor contraptions are able to emit wavelengths of light (colors) that depend on their size. In other
words, if quantum dot A is twice as big as quantum dot B, it emits a different color. Therefore, one material
can be used to create a plethora of different colors. Quantum dots are better than conventional dyes for
several reasons. For one, they last much longer, allowing the study and diagnosis of tissues for longer than
currently possible. Another advantage is there are more colors that are available. While this may seem
superficial, it allows the tracking of a lot more things - after all, biological systems aren’t very simple.

An estimated 100,000 people per year die due to bad reactions to medicine. Nanotechnology is
capable of delivering medication to the exact location where they are needed. In addition to much fewer
deaths (and disorders) from side effects, the drug would also be more potent. The drug could also reach
nearly inaccessible places that current techniques don’t allow for. Organic dendrimers - a type of artificial
molecule roughly the size of a protein - would be ideal for the job of delivering medicine. They are more
durable than proteins, as they have stronger bonds. They resemble

“What one would get by taking many sprigs from a tree and poking them into a foam ball
so that they shoot out in every direction.”

A Dendrimer with a target cell

They contain voids inside of them, giving them

large internal surface areas; just what’s needed
for delivering medicine. There is a possibility of
designing dendrimers that swell and release their
cargo only when appropriate trigger molecules
are around - allowing stuff intended for tissue A
to get to tissue A and not somewhere else.

Other methods of drug/medicine-delivery include hollow polymer capsules (being researched by

Möhwald of the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces), and nanoshells (under study at Rice
University.) Hollow polymer capsules can respond to signals to release drugs by swelling or compressing.
Nanoshells are really small, gold-coated glass beads. They can be fabricated to absorb most light, including
wavelengths of light that are near infrared, which can get through a couple of centimeters of tissue. When it
absorbs light, it heats up and deforms, releasing its payload. It is possible that gold nanoshells could be
used to fight cancer. If they are bound to antibodies that move them close to a tumor and are then radiated
with infrared light, they may heat up enough to destroy the tumor. No collateral damage would be dealt.
Could this lead to the elimination of cancer?

Certain Eukaryotic cells in the body (whether foreign or domestic) are responsible for many
deaths. Eukaryotes can perform Apoptosis (essentially cell suicide.) Apoptosis is triggered by four different
things in eukaryotes: 1. The cell suffers irreparable damage or loses its normal contact with its surroundings
2. The cell receives conflicting signals concerning the division cycle 3. The cell may be instructed by the
immune system to commit suicide (“Instructive apoptosis”) and 4. The cell responds to external triggers
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during gestation and development. Instructive apoptosis is triggered by certain ligands (attached atoms or
molecules) coming in contact with certain receptors on the cell’s surface. A nanoprobe has the capability of
carrying these ligands. Another relatively simple way of triggering apoptosis is to breach the cell
membrane of a target cell with a tube and drain the cytoplasm. A more difficult way of mandating a cell to
get into apoptosis would be to destroy its cytoskeleton (using mechanical manipulation). If using that
method, it is necessary to avoid destroying other organelles (especially the lysosomes, as they contain
corrosive compounds within them); else the cell wouldn’t be able to perform apoptosis. Getting rid of cells
using apoptosis (as opposed to necrosis, which is tissue death by disease or injury) is advantageous since no
damage to other cells in the vicinity occurs. The contents of the cell are neatly packed and discarded as the
cell dies. Cancer, molds and other eukaryotes can effectively be killed using this method. Nanoprobes
(which can go about through the body in a random or programmed fashion) can be designed to target those
organisms and effectively destroy them.

Radiation can be hazardous from outside the body, as large amounts are required. If a nanoprobe
could create a miniscule amount of radiation, then that could kill bacterial and viral organisms. It is fairly
efficient, and effective. Nucleic acids are particularly susceptible to radiation, and viruses are basically just
a nucleic acid and a protein coat, therefore it would be extremely effective against them. A similar
technique has been tested on mice and has been found to kill cancer. It consists of a single caged actinium-
225 atom that would detect (using antibodies) and enter a cancerous cell. The alpha particles it emits are
capable of destroying the internal structure of the cancerous cell and possibly nearby cancerous cells as
well. The one concern is whether or not the actinium isotope will damage the body cells that it passes by.
The studies on mice show that the untreated mice died in an average of 43 days. The treated mice lived up
to 300 days (when they were killed by the researchers), and had no traces of tumors within them. The
actinium will eventually become harmless. The idea is to inject patients with millions of these little cancer
crusaders.

A nanoprobe can distinguish viruses by

using a sensor that adheres to the coating of a
non-enveloped virus or by measuring the
curvature of the membrane in enveloped viruses
(they are much smaller than cells.) They than can
“pull” them into internal cavities and then
destroy them (or just leave them there, sort of a
virus dump which will deactivate itself once
full.) The viroid would be destroyed by acids
that would reduce it to amino acids and then be
expelled. This approach should work for all
viruses.

A nanoprobe at work
Nanotechnology also theoretically allows the mimicking of natural biological processes. That is,
they can repair damaged tissues and such. One plausible procedure is using nanotech to build scaffoldings
to grow bones on. Mr. Stupp of Northwestern University came up with the idea of using fibers of artificial
molecules that bone cells often adhere to for this. Broken bones would heal much faster.

Another process that can easily be mimicked is the transport of oxygen within the body. This may
be necessary in conditions of poor blood circulation. One can create an artificial red blood cell to deliver
oxygen to areas of the body in need of it. They can be designed to absorb oxygen when the surrounding
area is above a certain level (like the lungs) and release it when the vicinity is below a certain level (like a
tissue that requires oxygen). They can also get of carbon dioxide faster in this matter (absorb carbon
dioxide in tissues, release carbon dioxide in lungs). Such a device can be somewhere around 1000 times
more efficient than an ordinary red blood cell. Nanoprobes can reproduce just about any bodily function as
well. Soon we may have artificial mitochondrion. The list continues. The only problem (other than the
prodigious amounts of probes required) is how the body’s immune system would react. To get past that, the
probes must be made out of some material that the body wo n’t target.

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 Nanotechnology research is forming part of the quest to prevent and reverse environmental
damage. Nanotechnologies have the potential to produce plentiful consumer goods with much lower
throughput of materials and much less production of waste, thus reducing carbon dioxide buildup and
reducing global warming. They also have the potential to reduce waste, especially hazardous waste,
converting it to natural materials which do not threaten life. Researchers aim to use nanotechnology to
provide efficient and effective filters for water and air, leading to reduced pollution. A membrane that can
purify water and is also self-cleaning to avoid contamination should be available in the near to medium-
term. Improved catalysts, composed of nanoparticles, are already in use in petrol and chemical processing,
resulting in less waste in these processes.

Perhaps the most promising application in both the environmental and energy areas is the
development of fuel cells, with many different uses. Research is being undertaken into the effectiveness of
carbon nanotubes at storing hydrogen; these have the potential to power cars, amongst other things, with
water as the only emission. Biomimicry is one key element in this research, as scientists attempt to copy
plants’ photosynthesis mechanism. The conversion of sunlight to hydrogen would bring together
photovoltaics and biomimicry, and should be possible in the medium-term. Taken together, improvements
in sources of renewable energy, with the development of storage of gaseous hydrogen and the improvement
of fuel cells, could lead to a viable ‘hydrogen economy’ in which the energy needs of society were no
longer reliant on fossil fuels.

Nanotechnology could save the ozone layer: Whilst experimenting with nanospheres and
perfluorodecalin, a liquid used in the production of synthetic blood, researchers at Germany's University of
Ulm have stumbled across a phenomenon that could ultimately help remove ozone-harming chemicals from
the atmosphere. The perfluorodecalin, against all expectations, was taken up by a water-based suspension
of 60 nm diameter polystyrene particles.

Scientists believe that this occurred because nanoscopic perfluorodecalin droplets became
encapsulated by self-assembled polystyrene nanospheres. Perfluorodecalin has very similar properties to
chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), the inert liquids that are known to destroy the Earth's protective ozone layer.
And the Ulm team reckons that aerosol particle-carrying water droplets or ice crystals in clouds may be
able to collect up chlorofluorocarbons in the same way, eventually returning them harmlessly to Earth as
rain, hail or snow.

Cleansing Soil and Water: Nanotechnology can help with the cleanup of these pollutants. Living organisms
clean the environment, when they can, by using molecular machinery to break down toxic materials.
Systems built with nanotechnology will be able to do likewise, and to deal with compounds that aren't
biodegradable

The more we learn about the ecosystem, the more we find that functions are managed by particular
organisms or groups of organisms. Nanotech 'managers' might be able to step in when the natural managers
are not available, thereby having a particular ecological activity occur that otherwise wouldn't have
happened. A nanotech manager might be used for remediation in a situation where toxicants have destroyed
some key members of a particular ecosystem—some managerial microbes, for example. Once the needed
activities are reinitiated, the living survivors of the stressed ecosystem can jump in and continue the
ecosystem recovery effort.

A larger problem (with a ground-based solution) is climatic change caused by rising carbon
dioxide (CO2 ) levels. Global warming, expected by most climatologists and probably under way today, is
caused by changes in the composition of Earth's atmosphere resulting in the "greenhouse effect." Several
gases contribute to this, but CO2 presents the most massive problem. Fossil fuels and deforestation both
contribute. Before the new technology base arrives, something like 300 billion tons of excess CO 2 will
likely have been added to the atmosphere. Small greenhouses can help reverse the global greenhouse effect.
By permitting more efficient agriculture, molecular manufacturing can free land for reforestation, helping
to repair the devastation wrought by hungry people. Growing forests absorb CO2. If reforestation is not fast
enough, inexpensive solar energy can be applied to remove CO2 directly, producing oxygen and glossy
graphite pebbles. Painting the world's roads with solar cells would yield about four trillion watts of power,
enough to remove CO2 at a rate of 10 billion tons per year. Temporarily planting one-tenth of U.S. farm
acreage with a solar cell "crop" would provide enough energy to remove 300 billion tons in five years;
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winds would distribute the benefits worldwide. The twentieth century insult to Earth's atmosphere can be
reversed by less than a decade of twenty-first century repair work.

Orbital Waste: The space near Earth is being polluted with small orbiting projectiles, some as
small as a pin. Most of the debris is floating fragments of discarded rocket stages, but it also includes
gloves and cameras dropped by astronauts. This is not a problem for life on Earth, but it is a problem as life
begins its historic spread beyond Earth—the first great expansion since the greening of the continents, long
ago. Orbiting objects travel much faster than rifle bullets, and energy increases as the square of speed.
Small fragments of debris in space can do tremendous damage to a spacecraft, and worse, their impact on
an spacecraft can blast loose yet more debris. Each fragment is potentially deadly to a space-faring human
crossing its path. Today, the tiny fraction of space that is near Earth is increasingly cluttered. This litter
needs to be picked up. With molecular manufacturing, it will be possible to build small spacecraft able to
maneuver from orbit to orbit in space, picking up one piece of debris after another. Small spacecraft are
needed, since it makes no sense to send a shuttle after a scrap of metal the size of a postage stamp. With
these devices, we can clean the skies and keep them hospitable to life.

With nanotechnology the human race is approaching the great historical transition to thorough,
inexp ensive control of the structure of matter, with all that implies for medicine, the environment, and our
way of life. Nanotechnology offers tools that can be used to achieve what people have been striving to
accomplish. Nanotechnology seems to be where the world is headed if technology keeps advancing, and
competition practically guarantees that these advances will continue. It has opened a huge range of
opportunities for benefit. Nanotechnology is the big future promised in tiny building blocks.

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