This hands-on exploration section introduces students
to the interdisciplinary field of nano-science & technology through
an example exploration of carbon nanotubes. Students will learn about
and explore their synthesis, processing, characterization and applications
in state of the art research facilities, which include the Materials
Physics and Laser Physics Laboratories, Atomic Force Microscopy laboratory,
and Scanning Electron Microscopy laboratory.
Presentation by Dr. John Jaszczak in Fisher Hall
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Students begin with a pre-exploration questionnaire to determine
their knowledge about and interest in nanotechnology. |
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What's So Special About Nano? Students are given
a brief introduction about nanotechnology by John
Jaszczak, Associate
Professor of Physics. |
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Demonstration by Dr. Yoke Khin Yap in the Materials
Physics and Laser Physics Laboratory
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Yoke
Khin Yap, Assistant Professor of Physics, rolls
an illustrated layer of graphite (called graphene sheet) into a
tube to demonstrate bonding in carbon nanotubes. |
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Students examine real samples of carbon nanotubes. |
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Dr. Yap demonstrates near the Dual-RF-plasma Pulsed-Laser
Deposition (PLD) System in the Materials
Physics and Laser Physics Laboratory. |
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Chamber for characterizing electronic properties
of carbon nanotubes. |
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Demonstration by Mr. Owen Mills in the FE-SEM Laboratory
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Owen
Mills, Electron Optics Engineer and manager of the Field Emission Scanning
Electron Microscope lab, demonstrates microscopy on a carbon
nanotube sample. |
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Hitachi
S-4700 FE-SEM, located in the Minerals and Materials Engineering Building. |
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Mr. Mills talks about mounting samples, microscope
computing hardware and software, and panning and zooming of images. |
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The sample is examined for interesting features.
Image astigmatism and sample drift are issues. |
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Sample at 20 micron scale. |
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Sample at 0.57 micron scale. |
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Demonstration by Dr. Howard Wang in the AFM Laboratory
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Howard
(Hao) Wang, Assistant Professor of Materials
Science and Engineering, discusses the Atomic Force Microscopy lab. |
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Students look at images of carbon nanotubes. |
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AFM image close-up. The AFM lab is located in the
Minerals and Materials Engineering Building. |
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Dr. Wang shows features of dispersed single-walled
carbon nanotubes. |
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After the AFM lab demonstration, the students will
take another written questionnaire to reassess their knowledge
of and interest in nanotechnology. |
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Minerals and Materials Engineering (M&M) Building. |
