DNA~2-1/2 nm diameter

Things Natural Things Manmade

MicroElectroMechanical devices10 -100 µm wide

Red blood cellsPollen grain

Fly ash~ 10-20 µm

Atoms of siliconspacing ~tenths of nm

Head of a pin1-2 mm

Quantum corral of 48 iron atoms on copper surfacepositioned one at a time with an STM tip

Corral diameter 14 nm

Human hair~ 10-50 µm wide

Red blood cellswith white cell

~ 2-5 µm

Ant~ 5 mm

The Scale of Things -- Nanometers and More

Dust mite

200 µm

ATP synthase

~10 nm diameter Nanotube electrode

Carbon nanotube~2 nm diameter

Nanotube transistor

O O

O

OO

O OO O OO OO

O

S

O

S

O

S

O

S

O

S

O

S

O

S

O

S

POO

21st Century Challenge

Combine nanoscale building blocks to make novel functional devices, e.g., a photosynthetic reaction center with integral semiconductor storage

The

Mic

row

orld

0.1 nm

1 nanometer (nm)

0.01 µµµµm10 nm

0.1 µµµµm100 nm

1 micrometer (µµµµm)

0.01 mm10 µµµµm

0.1 mm100 µµµµm

1 millimeter (mm)

1 cm10 mm

10-2 m

10-3 m

10-4 m

10-5 m

10-6 m

10-7 m

10-8 m

10-9 m

10-10 m

Visib

le

The

Nan

owor

ld

1,000 nanometers = In

frare

dUl

travio

letMi

crow

ave

Soft

x-ra

y

1,000,000 nanometers =

Zone plate x-ray “lens”Outermost ring spacing

~35 nm

Office of Basic Energy SciencesOffice of Science, U.S. DOE

Version 03-05-02