![Chart showing size comparisons](/peth04/20041107223353im_/http://nsf.gov/od/lpa/priority/nano/images/nano_scale.jpg)
Size matters - this illustration shows
size comparisons, from picometers and
nanometers to decimeters and meters.
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![transmission electron microscope images](/peth04/20041107223353im_/http://nsf.gov/od/lpa/priority/nano/images/nano_crystals.jpg)
Transmission electron microscope images
(lower resolution on top, lattice fringe
image below) of nanoparticles that have
self-oriented with respect to each other
and assembled to form an elongate single
crystal. This growth mechanism contrasts
with the classical atom-by-atom growth
pathway (Penn and Banfield, Science, 1998).
Credit: Dr. Jillian Banfield,
University of of California at Berkeley
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![a scanning electron micrograph of frog neurons](/peth04/20041107223353im_/http://nsf.gov/od/lpa/priority/nano/images/frog_cells.jpg)
This photo is a scanning electron micrograph
of frog neurons on top of the world's
first 4-Mbit DRAM integrated circuit,
produced at Texas Instruments in Dallas,
Texas in 1985. The image shows that semiconductor
technology is already reaching scales
on the order of biological elements.
Credit: Photo courtesy
of Texas Instruments
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version for downloading is here.
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![an aluminum single-electron trap fabricated in the laboratory](/peth04/20041107223353im_/http://nsf.gov/od/lpa/priority/nano/images/likharev_trap.jpg)
An aluminum single-electron trap fabricated
in the laboratory of Prof. James Lukens
(SUNY at Stony Brook). The trap was successfully
tested for capturing and holding a single
electron in a 30x40x120 nm^3 island for
at least 12 hours at low temperatures
(below 1 Kelvin.) Single-electron circuits
are considered the most likely replacement
of the mainstream CMOS (Complementary
Metal-Oxide Semiconductor) chips when
nanometer-scale VLSI (Very Large-Scale
Integration) fabrication technologies
have been developed. For a review see,
e.g., K. Likharev, Proc. IEEE vol. 87,
pp. 606-632, Apr. 1999.
Credit: Dr. Konstantin
Likharev, State University of New York
at Stony Brook
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![composite SEM images showing biological force microscopy](/peth04/20041107223353im_/http://nsf.gov/od/lpa/priority/nano/images/lower_skl.jpg)
Composite SEM images showing biological
force microscopy. Nanometer by nanometer,
a mineral (or another surface) approaches,
makes contact with, and then withdraws
from a bacterium on a force sensing cantilever.
The cantilever bends due to attractive
or repulsive forces between the cell and
mineral. This deflection is monitered
by reflecting a laser off the top of the
cantilever and into a detector. In so
doing, nanoscale forces can be measured
in real time between a living cell and
another material in solution.
Credit: Steven Lower, Department
of Geology, University of Maryland
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version for downloading is here.
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![representation of a DNA cube shows that it contains six different cyclic strands](/peth04/20041107223353im_/http://nsf.gov/od/lpa/priority/nano/images/seeman_cube.jpg)
This representation of a DNA cube shows
that it contains six different cyclic
strands. Their backbones are shown in
red (front), green (right), yellow (back),
magenta (left), cyan (top) and dark blue
(bottom). Each nucleotide is represented
by a single colored dot for the backbone
and a single white dot representing the
base. Note that each edge of the cube
is a piece of double helical DNA, containing
two turns of the double helix.
Credit: Dr. Nadrian Seeman,
Department of Chemistry, New York University
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![](/peth04/20041107223353im_/http://nsf.gov/od/lpa/images/spacer.gif) |
![a short length of a single walled carbon nanotube](/peth04/20041107223353im_/http://nsf.gov/od/lpa/priority/nano/images/smalley_2.jpg)
The image is of a short length of a single
walled carbon nanotube, open at one end,
closed at the other, and wrapped with
a solubilizing polymer molecule (polystyrene
sulfonate).
Credit: Dr. Richard E.
Smalley, Nobel Laureate for Chemistry,
Professor of Chemistry and Professor of
Physics, Rice University
Larger
version for downloading is here.
File size: 100KB
![image illustrates the manufacture of catenanes](/peth04/20041107223353im_/http://nsf.gov/od/lpa/priority/nano/images/stoddart_cats.jpg)
The image illustrates the manufacture
of catenanes that are sandwiched between
two perpendicular electrodes. Catenanes
are nanostructures which can be electrochemically-controlled
to circumrotate.
Credit: Dr. Anthony Pease,
Laboratory of Professor Fraser Stoddart,
University of California, Los Angeles
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version for downloading is here.
File size: 81KB
![image demonstrates how silicon polymer nanowires can detect trace amounts of explosives](/peth04/20041107223353im_/http://nsf.gov/od/lpa/priority/nano/images/trogler_print.jpg)
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![image demonstrates how silicon polymer nanowires can detect trace amounts of explosives](/peth04/20041107223353im_/http://nsf.gov/od/lpa/priority/nano/images/trogler_print2.jpg)
The two above images demonstrate how silicon
polymer nanowires can detect trace amounts
of explosives. The ticket was impregnated
with silicon polymer nanowires. The ticket
glows in ultraviolet light, however luminescence
is quenched where touched by a TNT-contaminated
thumb.
Credit: H. Sohn, M.J. Sailor,
and W.C. Trogler, University of California
at San Diego
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File size: 72KB
![image demonstrates how silicon polymer nanowires can detect trace amounts of explosives](/peth04/20041107223353im_/http://nsf.gov/od/lpa/priority/nano/images/trogler_hand.jpg)
The image demonstrates how silicon polymer
nanowires can detect trace amounts of
explosives. The polymer was sprayed onto
paper, which glows green in ultraviolet
light. Luminescence is quenched where
a TNT-contaminated hand touched the paper.
Credit: H. Sohn, M.J. Sailor,
and W.C. Trogler, University of California
at San Diego
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![polystyrene nanoparticles dynamically deposited into Poly (dimethylsiloxane) grooves](/peth04/20041107223353im_/http://nsf.gov/od/lpa/priority/nano/images/walker_grid.jpg)
Pictured are polystyrene nanoparticles
dynamically deposited into Poly (dimethylsiloxane)
grooves.
Credit: Dr. Gilbert Walker,
Department of Chemistry, University of
Pittsburgh
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![theoretical flow of electrons in a two dimensional electron gas](/peth04/20041107223353im_/http://nsf.gov/od/lpa/priority/nano/images/flower_cover.jpg)
Theoretical flow of electrons in a two
dimensional electron gas away from an
electron source at the center. The same
scattering that produces diffusion creates
static branches of electron flow. This
image appeared on the cover of Nature
in March, 2001.
Credit: Eric Heller, Lyman
Laboratory of Physics, Harvard University
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version for downloading is here.
File size: 362KB
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