Belle Consulting Services Inc.

Systems Engineering for

Nanosystems

Dr. Gabriele Belle

Introduction to Nanosystems

„ What is a “Nanosystem”?
„ Why are we interested in the development of Nanosystems?
„ What is the market for nanoscale devices and systems?
„ Applications
„ What are the most significant physical properties that
distinguish nanoscale systems from larger systems?
„ Devices
„ The Systems Engineering Perspective
„ Challenges
„ Conclusion
What is a Nanosystem?
„ Nanotechnology is based on the exploitation of new material
properties, processes, and functionalities that matter exhibits
at sizes between 1 nm and 100 nm.

„ The effects related to the size produce qualitatively new

behavior.

„ When the sample size or grain size becomes comparable with

the mean free path of a particle, then the corresponding
physical phenomenon will be strongly affected.

„ To be able to identify and characterize nanoscale phenomena

it is necessary to directly probe the small devices. This is
challenging because, sub micron devices produce tiny signals
in almost all relevant physical measurements.
Why are we interested in the
development of Nanosystem?
„ History
– Moore’s Law: In 1965 Gordon Moore, one of the founders
of Intel Corporation, predicted that the number of
transistors that could be fit in a given area would double
every 10 months for the next ten years.

– This trend continued past the ten years

– 2000 transistors in the 4004 processors in 1971

– 40,000,000 transistors in the Pentium 4

– Decrease in size (millimeters in 60’s to 45-65 nm today)

Why are we interested in the
development of Nanosystem?
„ History continued:

– 1960: William McLellan

constructed the first nanomotor

– 1985: Tom Newman was able to

scale down letters such that the
entire Encyclopedia Britannica fit Carbon Nanotube
onto the head of a pin. Source: Wikipedia

– 1985 Discovery of fullerenes and

later carbon nanotubes
Why are we interested in the
development of Nanosystem?
„ History

– Advances in biochemistry made the synthesis of larger and

more complex structures, up to tens or hundreds of
nanometer in size, possible.

– Lasertechnology and advances in the production and

development of photonic devices offer new possibilities of
manipulating and using light. We can produce nanoscale
optoelectronic devices and integrate these devices into
other Nanosystems.
Why are we interested in the
development of Nanosystem?

Three powerful technologies have met on a

common scale the

NANOSCALE
What is the market for nanoscale
devices and systems?

„ Nanotechnology is
considered the
manufacturing wave of
the future.

„ Industry leaders
believe that in 10 to 15
years the global
market for
nanotechnology
products will exceed $1
Trillion Dollar annually.
Applications

„ Medicine
„ Chemistry
„ Energy
„ Information and
Communication
„ Heavy Industry
„ Consumer Goods
 Application: Medicine

Diagnostics
Tissue Engineering

Drug Delivery

Source: Wikipedia
Application: Chemistry

„ Synthesis - provides novel

nanomaterials

„ Self-assembly of molecules

„ Catalysis - benefits from

nanoparticles for applications in fuel
cells

„ Filtration – waste and water

treatment, air purification, energy Source: Wikipedia
storage. Use of membranes, whereby
the liquid is pressed through the
membrane. Nanofiltration is used for
the removal of ions and the
separation of fluids
Application: Energy

„ Increasing the efficiency of energy

production

– Increasing the efficiency of light conversion

through the use of nanostructures

– Improving combustion by designing specific

catalysts with maximized surface area. Special
shaped nanoparticles can applied to a surface
transform into a solar collector
Effects of size effects
„ Produce qualitatively new
behavior

„ If the size of a nanoscale

structure becomes less that
the characteristic length
scale for scattering of
electrons or phonons this
can lead to qualitatively
new modes of transport for
electrical current /or heat.

„ Explains the ballistic

transport of current in
nanotubes.

Source: G.Belle: Magneto-Optical Studies

of Quantum Wells and Superlattices
 Manipulation and coupling of
properties at the nanoscale
„ Semiconductor Properties

– The fundamental properties of nanoscale

semiconductor structures can be dramatically altered
by controlling their size and shape without changing
their composition. When the electrons and holes in
semiconductors are confined to dimensions less then
their de Broglie wavelength (typically 1 to 30 nm)
quantum mechanical size effects appear. The carrier
confinement can be in one dimension (quantum
films or quantum wells), two dimensions (quantum
wires), or three dimensions (quantum dots, QDs, or
nanocrystals).
Effects of size effects

„ Systems with component sizes ranging from a few

tenths to about ten nanometers lie at the fuzzy
boundary between the quantum and the classical
domains. Such systems are also in the size range
where thermal energy fluctuations and Brownian
motion can have significant effects.

„ Ultra thin films (a few atomic layers) yield quasi-

two dimensional magnetic material, reveal novel
magnetic domain physics, and provide a fascinating
arena for studying the gradual onset of magnetism.
Effects of size effects
„ The mechanical properties of materials change
dramatically as the grain size in polycrystalline
materials or the concentration of strain fields
approaches the nanometer scale

„ Modes of failures will also change, as the scale of

devices and machines decreases toward the
nanoscale.

„ The causes include different mechanical properties

that will modify fracture characteristics
– increased importance of surface tension
– enhanced role of diffusion and corrosion at the large
surface- to volume ratios.
Modeling and simulation
„ Great need for theory, modeling, and large scale computer
simulation

„ Links between the electronic, optical, mechanical and

magnetic properties of nanostructures and their size, shape,
topology, and composition are not well understood, although
for the simplest semiconductor systems, carbon nanotubes,
and similar systems there has been considerable progress.

„ In nanoscale systems, thermal energy are comparable to the

activation energy scale of the materials and devices, so that
statistical and thermodynamic methods must include this
effects adequately.
Magnetic Properties

„ Dramatic quantization and other effects also

occur in magnetism and magnetic materials
at the nanoscale.

„ Magnetic nanostructures grown with

Molecular Beam Epitaxie
Thermal properties
„ Polycrystalline materials exhibit lower thermal
conductivity than low-defect single crystals of the
same material.

„ This could result in significantly reduced thermal

conductivities in nanostructured materials leading
to improvements for applications such as thermal
barrier coatings.

„ No detailed understanding of nanostructure thermal

properties relationships until now.
Thermal properties
„ increasing thermal transport rates in fluids by
suspending nanocrystalline particles in them.

„ Nanofluids have recently been shown to exhibit

substantially increased thermal conductivities and
heat transfer rates compared to fluids that do not
contain suspended particles.
„ Up to now, there is no real understanding of
mechanisms by which nanoparticles alter thermal
transport in liquids.
Controlled Synthesis and
processing at the nanoscale
„ Current: Nanometer-size objects are much larger
entities, with thousands or even millions of atoms in
them.

„ Need: Develop methods to prepare macroscopic

quantities of nanoscale components in complex
designed patterns, using techniques of self
assembly.
Issues to be considered:
„ Manufacturing procedures to build tomorrow’s
nano-machines beyond the current and immediate
future silicon-based fabrication technology

„ Property characterization (thermal, mechanical,

optical, chemical, biological) at the nanoscale

„ Modeling of the complex behavior of extremely tiny

devices at the fundamental molecular-microscopic
components and assembly levels

„ Innovative control methods for Nanosystems

Issues to be considered:
„ Friction, lubrication, cracking, failure analysis and
nondestructive testing in a nano world

„ Innovative solutions for energy redistribution,

powering and actuation of the nano-machines

„ Infrastructure for testing procedures suitable for

nanodevices

„ Diagnostics and manipulation of nano-systems for

usage, environments consideration and ability to
contact larger systems from the nanocomponents
Photonic Crystals
„ Have emerged as unique
structures with the
capability to manipulate the
flow of light energy

„ To create photonic crystals

operating at optical
wavelength the smallest
feature size must be of the
order of 100nm

Source: Wikipedia
Nanotubes
„ Nanotubes show
tremendous promise
as building blocks for
new materials.

„ Due to their topology,

they do not exhibit
surface effects.

„ Exhibit nearly ideal

electrical, optical, and
mechanical properties Source: Wikipedia
Nanotubes
„ Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are allotropes of carbon
„ Members of the fullerene structural family
„ Cylindrical shape
„ Diameter of a few nanometers (1/50,000th of the
width of a hair
„ The length to diameter ratio exceeds 1,000,000
„ This results in novel properties: extraordinary
strength, unique electrical properties, efficient heat
conductor
Nanotubes
„ The bonding structure is stronger than in
diamond

„ They align themselves into a “rope”

structure and can merge together under
high pressure

„ Specific strength of up to 48,000kNm/kg is

the best of known materials. High carbon
steel has only 154kNm/kg
Nanotubes

„ Multiple concentric nanotubes nested within

one another, exhibit a telescoping property.
An inner nanotube can slide almost without
friction within its outer nanotube shell
creating a perfect linear or rotational
bearing.

„ This property was used to create the world’s

smallest rotational motor.
Nanotubes

„ The symmetry and electronic structure of

graphene allows the nanotube to either
have the characteristics of a metal or a
semiconductor.
„ Metallic nanotubes can have a current
density more than 1,000 times greater than
silver or copper.
„ Highly toxic. Accumulate in the cytoplasm of
a cell and cause cell death.
Nanosystems Engineering

„ Modeling the systems architecture

„ Complexity

„ Constraints

„ The environment and boundaries of the

system
Nanosystems Engineering
„ Modeling the systems architecture

– Account for computational and physical

considerations

– Use technology independent models, based on

universal considerations such as information,
energy entropy, etc. for generality of results.

– Integrated approach

– Models that encompass the physical constraints

Modeling the systems architecture

„ The Device Model

– Model for the lowest functional component of the system

– In conventional circuits: transistors, wires..
– In Nanotechnology: quantum dot, nanotube laser etc.
– Device types have different shapes and sizes
– Frank divides the device into coding and non-coding
subsystems.
– Coding subsystem is the part that is varied to encode
digital data or timing information. It consist of the logical
subsystem (the actual data of interest) and the
redundancy subsystem (noise, error detection)
– Non-coding subsystem consists of structural and thermal
subsystems

Reference: Michael P. Frank, Nanocomputer Systems Engineering

Modeling the systems architecture

„ Technology Scaling Model

– Describes change of performance characteristics with
change of size

„ Interconnection Model
– Describes how information is communicated between the
logical devices of the system
– Includes for example simple wires

„ Timing Model
– Specifies how operations are synchronized in time
– In Frank’s model timing signals are carried by
interconnects which can be treated as devices

Reference: Michael P. Frank, Nanocomputer Systems Engineering

Modeling the systems architecture

„ Architectural Model
– Specifies how the logical functions of the system are
organized

„ Capacity Scaling Model

– Frank uses the capacity scaling model to specify how the
capacity of the system can be scaled up to handle larger
problems and how system performance scales as a
consequence.

Reference: Michael P. Frank, Nanocomputer Systems Engineering

Modeling the systems architecture

„ Energy Transfer Model

– Accounts for the flow of energy and entropy through the
system

„ Programming Model
– Specifies how the system is to be programmed to carry
out desired functions

„ Error Handling Model

– Specifies how errors that accumulate in the system state
are detected and corrected. It includes mechanisms for
noise immunity and error correction.

Reference: Michael P. Frank, Nanocomputer Systems Engineering

Modeling the systems architecture

„ Performance Model
– Accounts for all constraints

„ Cost Model
– Cost are associate with manufacturing, and energy
dissipation

Reference: Michael P. Frank, Nanocomputer Systems Engineering

Nanosystems Engineering

„ Complexity

– High complexity because of size effects

– Strong interdependencies:
„ Logical and thermal considerations which are
important for the efficiency of the encoding of digital
information
Nanosystems Engineering

„ Complexity

„ Temperature and clock rate:

– Increasing clock speed requires increasing device
temperature requiring additional isolation of the hotter
devices from their cooler environment.

„ Information Propagation Speed:

– Limited to the speed of light. Communication can therefore
only be improved by packing devices closer together.
Thermodynamic reasons prevent the reduction of the
devices size beyond a certain point.
Nanosystems Engineering

„ Constraints and challenges

– Size
– Thermal
– Manufacturing
– Verification
– Environmental Impact
Nanosystems Engineering

„ The environment and boundaries of

the system

– How do we define the environment of the

system and the system boundaries?
„ Concerns
– Toxicity
– Military Use and Ethics (Nanoethics)
Conclusion
„ The implementation of Nanosystems requires the
analysis and modeling of complex systems with
many unknown parameters.

„ The system boundaries are not clearly defined.

„ The environmental impact will require systems

thinkers to find out-of the box solutions for
problems they have never anticipated.