TINY PARTICLES, BIG PROBLEMS!

Outline

• What is nano?

• Why work in clean rooms?

• How are clean rooms kept clean?

• Who works in clean rooms?

What is nano?

Nano is very, very small!

•A nanometer is a billionth of a meter.

•Molecules are a few nanometers wide.

Why work in clean rooms?

Computer chip withnano-sized features

Silicon wafers with manytiny computer chips

Dust on a computer chip

How are clean rooms kept clean?

Furniture lets air flow through

Supplies don’t release fibers or chemicals

Trash cans sort and vent waste

Who works in clean rooms?

Nanoscientists

Tejal Desai Antje Baeumner Stanley Williams

Review

• What is nano?

• Why work in clean rooms?

• How are clean rooms kept clean?

• Who works in clean rooms?

Image sourcesCourtesy of NASA Marshall Space Flight Center

Courtesy of IBM

iStockphoto.com

Image copyright Dennis Kunkel Microscopy, Inc.

Sciencenter, Ithaca, NY

Image sources (continued)Courtesy of Tejal Desai and University of California San Francisco

Courtesy of Stanley Williams and Hewlett-Packard

Courtesy of Antje Baeumner and Cornell University

This project was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. ESI-0532536.

Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Foundation.