A Research Experience

Computers are everywhere. At the heart of every computer is a microprocessor, made from silicon. More than 220 billion silicon chips are produced every year (Chepesiuk, 1999). The constant push in consumer electronics is for smaller, faster, and cheaper products. With an increase in capabilities, there will also be an increase in demand. Thus, there is also a search for faster and cheaper manufacturing processes as well. As items become smaller, the realm of nanotechnology covers this manufacturing process. Nanotechnology was first envisioned by Richard Fenyman in his paper “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom. ” In this paper he outlines the principles behind creating objects on the very small scale. He talks about what was currently being studied at his time, where this was leading, and what the future could hold (Nanotechnology, n.d.). Since then, nanotechnology has expanded and now represents working in the 10- 100 nanometer (10-9 m) range. At this size, one can recognize a fundamental change in the properties of matter. By taking advantage of these fundamental differences, researchers everywhere are striving for products never before imaginable. The hope is to be able to utilize some of these special properties in manufacturing. There are two broad categories describing manufacturing on the nanotechnology scale (Whitesides & Love, 2001). The first is called top-down processing, and the other is called bottom-up. Top-down processing, in simple terms, is done through starting with something large and working with it, taking pieces away from it, in order to create something small. In top-down processing, a pattern is created and then shrunk in size. This pattern is used to create nanostructures on a larger substance, typically by removing material until the desired product is created. The bottom-up processing method is the fundamentally opposite of top-down. In bottom-up, one rearranges atoms and molecules individually and then builds them up in order to create nanostructures. By placing individual atoms or molecules, one has the power to control the very physical and chemical properties of a nanostructure (Whitesides &amp