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?

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.

A nanometer is a billionth of a meter.

Molecules are a few nanometers wide.

Why work in clean rooms?

Computer chip with nano-sized features

Silicon wafers with many tiny 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?

What is nano?

Why work in clean rooms?

How are clean rooms kept clean?

Who works in clean rooms?

Image sources Courtesy 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.