Bansilal Ramnath Agarwal Charitable Trust's
Vishwakarma Institute of Technology
(An Autonomous Institute affiliated to Savitribai Phule Pune University)
Vishwakarma Institute of Technology, 666, Upper Indiranagar, Bibwewadi , Pune, Maharashtra, INDIA - 411 037.

Introduction

Nanotechnology in electronics or simply say Nanoelectronics is use of transistors or nano devices in constructing and engineering of the functional systems at very micro level or we can say at atomic level. All industrial or production sectors depend on materials and devices made of atoms and molecules thus, in principle, all materials can be improved with nanomaterials. Thus, Nanotechnologies are the characterization, production and design of structures, devices and systems by controlling size and shape at the Nanometre scale.

Fig. 1 Nanotechnology

(Imageby:themelbourneengineer) 

In Year 1947 when scientist made first transistor it had been over 1 centimetre in size, and if we compare it with present situation, the smallest working transistor is 7 nanometres long that is over 1.4 million times smaller. As a result, billions of transistors are used in processors where, once industry embraces 7nm manufacturing techniques and 20 billion transistor-based circuits are integrated into a single chip.

 

Applications:

          After more than 20-25 years in field of basic nanoscience research and more than fifteen years of focused Research and Development under the National Nanotechnology Initiative applications of nanotechnology are delivering in both expected and unexpected and it promises to benefit human kind. Nanoelectronics covers wide variety of quantum mechanical properties of the hybrid material, semiconductor, single dimensional nanotubes, nanowires, and so forth. As a result Nanoelectronics can be applied in numerous fields and has many applications.

1. Optoelectronics and Semiconductors

Optoelectronics which are electronic devices that deals with light. Also, we can say, it is a device that are used to convert electrical-to-optical or optical-to-electrical transducers. Nanoscale optoelectronics has arisen significantly in past years and also it is increasingly being seen as a way to address one of the greatest issues of modern technology i.e., energy usage.

Nanomaterials like carbon nanofibers and carbon nanotubes are being used in optoelectronics and substances like atom-thick graphene has given hope for use of optoelectronic technology.

One of the most revolutionary applications in nanotechnology are in the semiconductor areas. When the size of semiconductor materials is reduced to nanoscale, their Chemical and Physical properties change drastically, resulting in some unique properties due to their large surface area or quantum size effect. One such example of a semiconductor technology is Atomic Cluster Deposition Technology pioneered by Nano Cluster Devices (NCD) of Christchurch, New Zealand.

2. Display Technology

We know that, Carbon Nanotubes can be used for sending electrons to illuminate pixels, which indirectly allow for a lightweight, millimetre-thick display. Also, Electrodes created from nanowires could make it possible for flat panel displays to be flexible in addition to thinner than existing flat panel displays.

3. Energy Technology (Batteries)

Nanoelectronics also plays a vital role in energy technology, with various application in photovoltaics cells. Also, Polymer solar cells have very high potential, particularly in the area of portable electronic devices, as a result of their relatively low materials and fabrication costs, as well as their flexible nature. An alternative type of photovoltaic cells, such as thin-layer and polymer cells, will reap significant benefits from Nanoelectronics. Nanoparticles such as Compounds of Cobalt, Manganese and Vanadium are under investigation to be use in Li-ion batteries. Lithium-ion batteries based on materials like Nano-Titanate and Nano-Phosphate has been developed by Toshiba in 2005 and Altair Nanotechnologies Inc. respectively. In further research, they are expecting to enhance the capacity and safety of Li-ion batteries.

Fig: 2 Lithium-ion Nanobattery

(Image by: wikipedia)

 

4. Nano-Sensors

 Nanotechnology has created many new, interesting fields and applications for photonic sensors. In addition, sensors have been fabricated on the nano-scale so that they have higher quality than previous digital cameras, and they have been defecting less. As a result Photos are larger and more accurate. As a part of a communication network, photonic sensors is also used to convert optical data (photons) into electricity (electrons). Nanoscale photonic sensors is more efficient and also receive similar advantages to other materials constructed under the nanoscale.

5. Data Storage

Electronics memory storage, that were developed in the past used to contains many transistors and as a result, to store just 1MB of data, we used to require a large space. Using nanotechnology, it has become possible to carry the memory storage device which has capability to store data from 1MB to some TB. It was possible due to, Nantero Company which has developed a carbon nanotube-based crossbar memory called Nano-RAM.  The GMR (Giant Magnetic Resistance) effect has led to a strong increase in the data storage density of hard disks and made the gigabyte range possible.      

Under Development Devices

Some Nanoelectronics device that are in research and are under-development are mentioned below: -

1.     Researchers are developing a type of memory chip with a projected density of one terabyte of memory per square inch or greater. Hence, increasing the density of memory chips.
2.     CMOS integrated circuits are Integrating with silicon nano photonics components. As a result, this optical technique is intended to provide higher speed data transmission between integrated circuits which could not be possible with electrical signals.
3.     At California Institute of Technology (Caltech), some researchers have demonstrated a laser that uses a nanopatterned silicon surface that helps produce the light with much tighter frequency control than previously achieved. As a result, it allows much higher data rates for information transmission over fibre optics.
4.     Researchers at Stanford University have demonstrated a technique to make functioning integrated circuits using carbon nanotubes. In order to make the circuit work researchers has developed a method to remove metallic nanotubes and leaving only semiconducting nanotubes and algorithm to deal with misaligned nanotubes.
5.     Researchers are also, developing techniques to manufacture integrated circuits built with nanotube transistors and Building transistors from carbon nanotubes to enable minimum transistor dimensions of a few nanometres and
6.     The assembly of integrated circuits, which will be measured in nanoscale having 22 nm wide transistor gates.
7.     Research is being conducted on making laser devices from arrays of semiconductor nano-dots and nanowires. If successful, this technology is expected to bring about more power efficiency and miniaturisation improvements compared to other laser devices.
8.     Nantero and Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre (IMEC) are developing a memory chip that uses carbon nanotubes. As per Nanotube-Based Non-volatile Random-Access Memory, this memory is labelled NRAM and is intended to be used in place of high-density Flash memory chips.
9.     Researchers at University of Tokyo, Georgia Tech, and Microsoft Research have developed a method to print prototype circuit boards using standard inkjet printers. They said, Silver nanoparticle ink was used to form the conductive lines needed in circuit boards.
10.  Researchers have developed higher density and lower power method using nanoscale magnets called magnetoelectric random access memory (Me RAM).

Fig: 3 Nano-Integrated Circuits

(Image by: http://www.asu.edu/aine/img/RationalPhoto.jpg)

Advantages

The advantages of the Nanoelectronics are

•         Durable
•         Lightweight ,Stronger and Faster
•         Devices are very small in size
•         Cheaper
•         Precise
•         More efficient
•         Uses smaller batteries
•         Medical Advantages
•         Environmental effect
•         Allows circuits to be more accurate on the atomic level.
•         High speed and high capacity memory

 

Disadvantages

The disadvantages of the Nanoelectronics are

•         Cost is more
•         Employment reduces as it brings automation
•         Nanotech Equipment installation cost is high
•         Carbon Nanotubes could cause infection of lungs
•         Atomic weapons might be more accessible and destructive

Conclusion

Nano-electronics show promise as a technology to continue the Compression of ICs. Flexibility is additionally a serious breakthrough within the world of electronics, which can enable a replacement approach in design and functionality for the devices which our modern lives depend on. Flexible devices have already begun to form their way into the commercial realm, and therefore the next few years are sure to see huge changes brought on by this extra dimension which is now available to electronics manufacturers. Nanotechnologies also promises development and enhancement of mobile devices and wearable devices in future.

Home Assignment Activity By - 

SY ET D_ Batch - 1_Group - 1

04 - Shrushti Bhattad

06 - Shaurya Singh

07 - Sumit Singh

12 - Shreyas Talwekar

19 - Samruddha Tupe

Guided By : 

Dr. Sangeeta Kurundkar