This volume contains papers presented at the NATO Advanced Research Workshop (ARW) Dynamic Interactions in Quantum Dot Systems held at Hotel Atrium in Puszczykowo, near Poznan, Poland, May 16-19,2002. The term low-dimensional systems, which is used in the title of this volume, refers to those systems which contain at least one dimension that is intermediate between those characteristic ofatoms/molecules and those ofthe bulk material. Depending on how many dimensions lay within this range, we generally speak of quantum wells, quantum wires, and quantum dots. As such an intermediate state, some properties of low-dimensional systems are very different to those of their molecular and bulk counterparts. These properties generally include optical, electronic, and magnetic properties, and all these are partially covered in this book. The main goal of the workshop was to discuss the actual state of the art in the broad area ofnanotechnology. The initial focus was on the innovative synthesis of nanomaterials and their properties such as: quantum size effects, superparamagnetism, or field emission. These topics lead us into the various field based interactions including plasmon- magnetic spin- and exciton coupling. The newer, more sophisticated methods for characterization of nanomaterials were discussed, as well as the methods for possible industrial applications. In general, chemists and physicists, as well as experts on both theory and experiments on nanosized regime structures were brought together, to discuss the general phenomena underlying their fields ofinterest from different points ofview.

The burgeoning field of nanotechnology has led to many recent technological innovations and discoveries. Understanding the impact of these technologies on business, science, and industry is an important first step in developing applications for a variety of settings and contexts. Handbook of Research on Nanoscience, Nanotechnology, and Advanced Materials presents a detailed analysis of current experimental and theoretical approaches surrounding nanomaterials science. With applications in fields such as biomedicine, renewable energy, and synthetic materials, the research in this book will provide experimentalists, professionals, students, and academics with an in-depth understanding of nanoscience and its impact on modern technology.

This thesis examines a novel class of flexible electronic material with great potential for use in the construction of stretchable amplifiers and memory elements. Most remarkably the composite material produces spontaneous oscillations that increase in frequency when pressure is applied to it. In this way, the material mimics the excitatory response of pressure-sensing neurons in the human skin. The composites, formed of silicone and graphitic nanoparticles, were prepared in several allotropic forms and functionalized with naphthalene diimide molecules. A systematic study is presented of the negative differential resistance (NDR) region of the current-voltage curves, which is responsible for the material's active properties. This study was conducted as a function of temperature, graphite filling fraction, scaling to reveal the break-up of the samples into electric field domains at the onset of the NDR region, and an electric-field induced metal-insulator transition in graphite nanoparticles. The effect of molecular functionalization on the miscibility threshold and the current-voltage curves is demonstrated. Room-temperature and low-temperature measurements were performed on these composite films under strains using a remote-controlled, custom-made step motor bench.

This book features a special subsection of Nanomedicine, an application of nanotech nology to achieve breakthroughs in healthcare. It exploits the improved and often novel physical, chemical and biological properties of materials only existent at the nanometer scale. As a consequence of small scale, nanosystems in most cases are efficiently uptaken by cells and appear to act at the intracellular level. Nanotechnology has the potential to improve diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of diseases, and includes targeted drug delivery and regenerative medicine; it creates new tools and methods that impact sig nificantly upon existing conservative practices. This volume is a collection of authoritative reviews. In the introductory section we define the field (intracellular delivery). Then, the fundamental routes of nanode livery devices, cellular uptake, types of delivery devices, particularly in terms of localized cellular delivery, both for small drug molecules, macromolecular drugs and genes; at the academic and applied levels, are covered. The following section is dedicated to enhancing delivery via special targeting motifs followed by the introduction of different types of intracellular nanodelivery devices (e.g. a brief description of their chemistry) and ways of producing these different devices. Finally, we put special emphasis on particular disease states and on other biomedical applications, whilst diagnostic and sensing issues are also included. Intracellular delivery / therapy is a highly topical which will stir great inter est. Intracellular delivery enables much more efficient drug delivery since the impact (on different organelles and sites) is intracellular as the drug is not supplied externally within the blood stream. There is great potential for targeted delivery with improved localized delivery and efficacy.

This book explores nanotechnology, a rapidly evolving and growing field with applications in a large number of areas. The concepts and physics are highlighted through topics such as nanoscience, quantum effects, nanostructures, and new forms of carbon. Applications and potential health and safety implications of nanomaterials are discussed for healthcare, food production, electronics, defence and more. Accessible and timely, this introduction to nanotechnology will interest students, teachers, politicians, and everyone else eager to learn more about this dynamic field.

This book will introduce the concept of molecular communications and nanonetworks. The publication addresses why nanoscale communication is needed for the sophisticated nano and biotechnology applications. The text introduces the frontier applications of the molecular communication and nanonetworks. The book examines the molecular communication types called active, passive, and gap junction molecular communications. The author presents the molecular transmitter, receiver, encoding and decoding mechanisms used in these systems. Discussing the molecular communication system model and looking at the unique characteristics of practical molecular communication systems and these chemical reactions and their effects on the communication performance. Finally, the book examines the point-to-point, broadcast, and multiple-access molecular channel and shows two promising application examples of the nanonetworks. The first application example is the body area nanonetworks used in nanomedicine. the second nanonetwork application example, i.e., NanoSensor Networks (NSNs) with Molecular Communication.

"Simulation and Verification of Electronic and Biological Systems" provides a showcase for the Circuit and Multi-Domain Simulation Workshop held in San Jose, California, USA, on November 5, 2009. The nine chapters are contributed by experts in the field and provide a broad discussion of recent developments on simulation, modeling and verification of integrated circuits and biological systems.

Specific topics include large scale parallel circuit simulation, industrial practice of fast SPICE simulation, structure-preserving model order reduction of interconnects, advanced simulation techniques for oscillator networks, dynamic stability of static memories and biological systems as well as verification of analog integrated circuits.

Simulation and verification are fundamental enablers for understanding, analyzing and designing an extremely broad range of engineering and biological circuits and systems. The design of nanometer integrated electronic systems and emerging biomedical applications have stimulated the development of novel simulation and verification techniques and methodologies. "Simulation and Verification of Electronic and Biological Systems" provides a broad discussion of recent advances on simulation, modeling and verification of integrated circuits and biological systems and offers a basis for stimulating new innovations.

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The future focus of nanotechnology will be on realizing new functions over greater scales. This book describes the creation of nano- and microscale structures and functions by controlling temperature, light, pressure, or carrier injections. It includes novel nano-integration technologies such as self-organization of surface nanostructures, quantum well structures, microlithography and micromachines, as well as new techniques of laser spectroscopy and new computational methods.

This book presents the perspectives of nanotechnology educators from around the world. Experts present the pressing challenges of teaching nanoscience and engineering to students in all levels of education, postsecondary and informal environments. The book was inspired by the 2014 NSF workshop for Nanoscience and Engineering Education. Since nanotechnology is a relatively new field, authors present recommendations for designing nanotechnology education programs. The chapters describe methods to teach specific topics, such as probe microscopy, size and scale, and nanomaterial safety, in classrooms around the world. Other chapters describe the ways that organizations like NNIN and the NISE Network have influenced informal nanotechnology education. Information technology plays a growing role in all types of education and several chapters are devoted to describing ways how educators can use online curricula for teaching nanotechnology to students from preschool to graduate school.

One of the biggest challenges is managing environmental, health and safety risks of nanomaterials. Yet, the information necessary to assess their long term effects is scarce. The second International Symposium, 2005, Minneapolis, Minnesota, with many more attendants than the first, and with contributions from academics, industry, policymakers, non-government organizations and even lawyers, established that, while there is international concern over how to ensure safe nanotech-workplaces, there is also progress being made in developing the required knowledge. This volume, a reprint from a special issue of the Journal of Nanoparticle Research, mainly draws from work presented at the 2005 symposium, diverse but united by the need for a holistic view of nanotechnology and risk.

The union of covalent and noncovalent chemistries manifested in the mechanical bond represents one of the great chemical triumphs of the last half century. However, until recently, the preparation of mechanically interlocked compounds has often been an inefficient and limiting process. This thesis provides a detailed account of the great strides taken to increase the synthetic accessibility of donor-acceptor mechanically interlocked molecules by the application of highly efficient and ultra mild chemical transformations during their template-directed synthesis. These new departures in synthesis have indeed played a transformative role in that more complex, higher-order, and functional architectures - once only a dream - are now comfortably within reach. Specifically, the formation of mechanical bonds in higher order rotaxanes and catenanes has become ever easier through the use of highly efficient click chemistries. The resulting mechanically interlocked compounds are functional molecular media for a host of applications including information storage, mechanical actuation, and drug release.

Metallic (magnetic and non-magnetic) nanocrystalline materials have been known for over ten years but only recent developments in the research into those complex alloys and their metastable amorphous precursors have created a need to summarize the most important accomplishments in the field. This book is a collection of articles on various aspects of metallic nanocrystalline materials, and an attempt to address this above need.

The main focus of the papers is on the new issues that emerge in the studies of nanocrystalline materials, and, in particular, on (i) new compositions of the alloys, (ii) properties of conventional nanocrystalline materials, (iii) modeling and simulations, (iv) preparation methods, (v) experimental techniques of measurements, and (vi) different modern applications. Interesting phenomena of the physics of nanocrystalline materials are a consequence of the effects induced by the nanocrystalline structure. They include interface physics, the influence of the grain boundaries, the averaging of magnetic anisotropy by exchange interactions, the decrease in exchange length, and the existence of a minimum two-phase structure at the atomic scale.

Attention is also paid to the special character of the local atomic ordering and to the corresponding interatomic bonding as well as to anomalies and particularities of electron density distributions, and to the formation of metastable, nanocrystalline (or quasi-crystalline) phases built from exceptionally small grains with special properties. Another important focus of attention are new classes of materials which are not based on new compositions, but rather on the original and special crystalline structure in thenanoscale.

The study of electrochemical nanotechnology has emerged as researchers apply electrochemistry to nanoscience and nanotechnology. These two related volumes in the Modern Aspects of Electrochemistry Series review recent developments and breakthroughs in the specific application of electrochemistry and nanotechnology to biology and medicine. Internationally renowned experts contribute chapters that address both fundamental and practical aspects of several key emerging technologies in biomedicine, such as the processing of new biomaterials, biofunctionalization of surfaces, characterization of biomaterials, discovery of novel phenomena and biological processes occurring at the molecular level.

This book presents methodological and application research in detecting cellular and molecular biophysical properties based on atomic force microscopy (AFM) nanorobotics. Series methods for in situ label-free visualizing and quantifying the multiple physical properties of single cells and single molecules were developed, including immobilization strategies for observing fine structures of living cells, measurements of single-cell mechanics, force recognition of molecular interactions, and mapping protein organizations on cell surface. The biomedical applications of these methods in clinical lymphoma treatments were explored in detail, including primary sample preparation, cancer cell recognition, AFM detection and data analysis. Future directions about the biomedical applications of AFM are also given.

Up to 40 volumes are planned for this concise monograph series, which focuses on the implementation of various engineering principles in the conception, design, development, analysis and operation of biomedical, biotechnological and nanotechnology systems and applications. In this monograph, the authors discuss the current progress in the medical application of impedimetric biosensors, along with the key challenges in the field. First, a general overview of biosensor development, structure and function is presented, followed by a detailed discussion of impedimetric biosensors and the principles of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Next, the current state-of-the art in terms of the science and technology underpinning impedance-based biosensors is reviewed in detail. The layer-by-layer construction of impedimetric sensors is described, including the design of electrodes, their nano-modification, transducer surface functionalisation and the attachment of different bioreceptors. The current challenges of translating lab-based biosensor platforms into commercially-available devices that function with real patient samples at the POC are presented; this includes a consideration of systems integration, microfluidics and biosensor regeneration. The final section of this monograph describes case studies of successful impedance-based biosensors for the detection of a range of analytes from small molecules up to whole microorganisms. Finally, the authors put forward future perspectives for the clinical applications of impedimetric biosensors.

Discrete periodic structures play an important role in physics, and have opened up an exciting new area of investigation in recent years. Questions relating to the control of light in such structures still represent a major challenge. It is this highly active field that is addressed in the present thesis. Using the model system of a photorefractive nonlinearity that allows one to simultaneously create and control photonic lattices by light, the author obtains a comprehensive picture of the control of nonlinear and quantum optics phenomena in photonic lattices. He describes and demonstrates experimentally for the first time resonant transitions in two-dimensional hexagonal lattices, including Rabi oscillations and Landau-Zener tunneling, as well as the direct control and exploitation of these transitions. A particular highlight of this thesis is the study of soliton-cluster switching and control of Zener tunneling.

This book presents synthesis techniques for the preparation of low-dimensional nanomaterials including 0D (quantum dots), 1D (nanowires, nanotubes) and 2D (thin films, few layers), as well as their potential applications in nanoelectronic systems. It focuses on the size effects involved in the transition from bulk materials to nanomaterials; the electronic properties of nanoscale devices; and different classes of nanomaterials from microelectronics to nanoelectronics, to molecular electronics. Furthermore, it demonstrates the structural stability, physical, chemical, magnetic, optical, electrical, thermal, electronic and mechanical properties of the nanomaterials. Subsequent chapters address their characterization, fabrication techniques from lab-scale to mass production, and functionality. In turn, the book considers the environmental impact of nanotechnology and novel applications in the mechanical industries, energy harvesting, clean energy, manufacturing materials, electronics, transistors, health and medical therapy. In closing, it addresses the combination of biological systems with nanoelectronics and highlights examples of nanoelectronic-cell interfaces and other advanced medical applications. The book answers the following questions: * What is different at the nanoscale? * What is new about nanoscience? * What are nanomaterials (NMs)? * What are the fundamental issues in nanomaterials? * Where are nanomaterials found? * What nanomaterials exist in nature? * What is the importance of NMs in our lives? * Why so much interest in nanomaterials? * What is at nanoscale in nanomaterials? * What is graphene? * Are pure low-dimensional systems interesting and worth pursuing? * Are nanotechnology products currently available? * What are sensors? * How can Artificial Intelligence (AI) and nanotechnology work together? * What are the recent advances in nanoelectronic materials? * What are the latest applications of NMs?

The articles collected in this book cover a wide range of materials with extraordinary superconducting and magnetic properties. For many of the materials studied, strong electronic correlations provide a link between these two phenomena which were long thought to be highly antagonistic. Both the progress in our understanding of fundamental physical processes and the advances made towards the development of devices are reported here. The materials studied come in a variety of forms and shapes from bulk to epitaxial films, nano- and heterostructures down to those involving single molecules and double quantum dots. In some cases the structuring serves the study of bulk properties. More often it is the change of these properties with nanostructuring and the properties of different materials in close proximity with each other that are of key interest because of possible application of these materials or heterostructures to quantum computing and spintronics.

The principal aim of this NATO Advanced Study Institute (ASI) "Nanostructured and Advanced Materials for Applications in Sensor, Optoelectronic and Photovoltaic Technology" was to present a contemporary overview of the field of nanostructured and advanced electronic materials. Nanotechnology is an emerging scientific field receiving significant worldwide attention. On a nanometer scale, materials or structures may possess new and unique physical properties. Some of these are now known to the scientific community, but there may well be many properties not yet known to us, rendering it as a fascinating area of research and a suitable subject for a NATO ASI. Yet another aspect of the field is the possibility for creating meta-stable phases with unconventional properties and the ultra-miniaturization of current devices, sensors, and machines. Such nanotechnological and related advanced materials have an extremely wide range of potential applications, viz. nanoscale electronics, sensors, optoelectronics, photonics, nano-biological systems, na- medicine, energy storage systems, etc. This is a wide-ranging subject area and therefore requires the formation of multi-disciplinary teams of physicists, chemists, materials scientists, engineers, molecular biologists, pharmacologists, and others to work together on the synthesis and processing of materials and structures, the understanding of their physical properties, the design and fabrication of devices, etc. Hence, in formulating our ASI, we adopted an int- disciplinary approach, bringing together recognised experts in the various fields while retaining a level of treatment accessible to those active in specific individual areas of research and development.

This book focuses on chemical and nanophotonic technology to be used to develop novel nano-optical devices and systems. It begins with temperature- and photo-induced phase transition of ferromagnetic materials. Further topics include: energy transfer in artificial photosynthesis, homoepitaxial multiple quantum wells in ZnO, near-field photochemical etching and nanophotonic devices based on a nonadiabatic process and optical near-field energy transfer, respectively and polarization control in the optical near-field for optical information security. Taken as a whole, this overview will be a valuable resource for engineers and scientists working in the field of nano-electro-optics. Written for: Scientists, optical engineers and graduate students

Nanoscale structures and materials have been explored in many biological applications because of their novel and impressive physical and chemical properties. Such properties allow remarkable opportunities to study and interact with complex biological processes. This book analyses the state of the art of piezoelectric nanomaterials and introduces their applications in the biomedical field. Despite their impressive potentials, piezoelectric materials have not yet received significant attention for bio-applications. This book shows that the exploitation of piezoelectric nanoparticles in nanomedicine is possible and realistic, and their impressive physical properties can be useful for several applications, ranging from sensors and transducers for the detection of biomolecules to sensible substrates for tissue engineering or cell stimulation. The book also focuses on the preparation, characterization and bio-applications of piezoelectric nanoparticles.

This book presents the many different techniques and methods of fabricating materials on the nanometer scale, and, specifically, the utilization of these resources with regard to sensors. The techniques described are studied from an application-oriented perspective, providing the reader with a perspective of the types of nanostructured sensors available that is broader than other books which concentrate on theoretical situations related to specific fabrication techniques.

This thesis presents studies on the interaction of soft materials like surfactants and proteins with hard silica nanomaterials. Due to its interdisciplinary nature it combines concepts from the fields of physical chemistry, nanoscience and materials science, yielding to fundamental insights into the structure-directing forces operating at the nano-scale. It is shown that the morphology of surfactant micellar aggregates adsorbed at the surface of nanoparticles and inside tubular nanopores can be tuned on demand by the co-adsorption of a surface modifier. The interaction of globular proteins with silica nanoparticles is dominated by electrostatic interactions and can be controlled by pH and ionic strength, while the bridging of nanoparticles by adsorbed protein molecules leads to large-scale hybrid aggregates of protein with the nanoparticles. Concepts emerging from the role of electrostatic interactions in the hetero-aggregation of nanoparticles with protein molecules are used for the co-assembly of charged microbeads into linear clusters and chains of controllable length.