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Instructor
Introduction
This is a graduate level course for those interested
in the science and technology of a new class of materials that has been creating
a technological revolution in the last decade. The common ground for these
materials, and the devices made from them, is that they are constituted of
building blocks of metals, ceramics or polymers that are nanometer size (1-100
nm) objects. The properties of such materials are novel and can be engineered by
controlling the dimensions of these building blocks and their assembly via
physical, chemical or biological methods. Examples of such property enhancements
are increased strength of pure metals when grain sizes are reduced to below
50nm, high strength and conductivities of carbon nanotubes, changes in optical
absorption in wide-band gap semiconductor nanoparticles, and enhanced ductility
in nanostructured ceramics. The emphasis in this course will be to introduce
students to the science of the building blocks of nanostructured materials,
material behavior when they are assembled or made part of functional structures
and devices, and the technological implications of these materials. Special
attention will be devoted to presenting new developments in this field and
future perspectives.
Topics
Advances in nanostructured
materials; impact of present day research and development; science of clusters;
small particles, thin films, and molecular structures; assembly of
nanostructures; biological structures; novel carbon based materials such as
fullerenes and nanotubes; structure-property-correlations in nanostructures;
advanced characterization techniques; applications especially those related to
nanotechnology, information technology, MEMS and biotechnology.
Class Format
Seminar-type course
consisting of lectures, discussions, reading assignments based on handouts of
research papers, research presentation and development of modules on selected
topics from above areas.
Books/Reading
There is no recommended textbook for this course;
extensive source material can be found at
http://www.nano.gov. Student speakers will distribute/suggest reading
material at least a week before their presentations. |
