Nanoengineering

Summary

Nanoengineering is the practice of engineering on the nanoscale. It derives its name from the nanometre, a unit of measurement equalling one billionth of a meter. Nanoengineering is largely a synonym for nanotechnology, but emphasizes the engineering rather than the pure science aspects of the field. History

4th Century Rome: The Lycurgus Cup was crafted using dichroic glass which is a product of nanoengineering
6th-15th Centuries: Stained glass windows were created in European cathedrals which contained nanoparticles of gold chloride or other metal oxides or chlorides. These nanoparticles give the glass its vibrant colors.
9th-17th Centuries: A sparkling layer on the outside of ceramics was used containing silver, copper, or other metallic nanoparticles.
13th-18th Centuries: "Damascus" saber blades were crafted using techniques that resulted in nanotubes and cementite nanowires.
1950: Victor La Mer and Robert Dinegar created a process that was used to create sp

Official source

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanoengineering

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The ability to rationally tune the morphology of nanostructures is a fundamental milestone in nanoscale engineering. In particular, the possibility to switch between different shapes within the same material system represents a further step in the development of complex nanoscale devices and it increases the potential of nanostructures in practical applications. We recently reported a new form of InAs nanostructures growing epitaxially on Si substrates as vertical V-shaped membranes. Here we demonstrate the possibility of modifying the shape of these nanomembranes and turning them into nanowires by modulating the surface roughness of the substrate by varying the surface treatment. We show that the growth of nanomembranes is favored on smooth surfaces. Conversely rough surfaces enhance the growth of nanowires. We also shove that the V/III ratio plays a key role in determining the absolute yield, i.e. how many nanostructures form during growth. These results envisage a new degree of freedom in the engineering of bottom up nanostructures and contribute to the achievement of nanostructure networks. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Elsevier2015

Control of polarization and dipole moment in low-dimensional semiconductor nanostructures

Philipp Ridha

We demonstrate the control of polarization and dipole moment in semiconductor nanostructures, through nanoscale engineering of shape and composition. Rodlike nanostructures, elongated along the growth direction, are obtained by molecular beam epitaxial growth. By varying the aspect ratio and compositional contrast between the rod and the surrounding matrix, we rotate the polarization of the dominant interband transition from transverse-electric to transverse-magnetic, and modify the dipole moment producing a radical change in the voltage dependence of absorption spectra. This opens the way to the optimization of quantum dot amplifiers and electro-optical modulators.

2009

Probing Absolute Spin Polarization at the Nanoscale

Maximilian Assig, Matthias Alexander Eltschka, Markus Etzkorn, Klaus Kern

Probing absolute values of spin polarization at the nanoscale offers insight into the fundamental mechanisms of spin-dependent transport. Employing the Zeeman splitting in superconducting tips (Meservey-Tedrow-Fulde effect), we introduce a novel spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy that combines the probing capability of the absolute values of spin polarization with precise control at the atomic scale. We utilize our novel approach to measure the locally resolved spin polarization of magnetic Co nanoislands on Cu(111). We find that the spin polarization is enhanced by 65% when increasing the width of the tunnel barrier by only 2.3 angstrom due to the different decay of the electron orbitals into vacuum.

Amer Chemical Soc2014