Nanoscale Materials

Undergraduate / Graduate

This course provides an overview of nanoscale phenomena in metals, semiconductors, and magnetic materials (e.g., the fundamental aspects of quantum confinement in semiconductors and metals, superparamagnetism in nanoscale magnets, electronic properties of nanowires and carbon nanotubes, surface plasmon resonances in nanomaterials, photonic crystals). Special attention is paid to preparative aspects of nanomaterials, colloidal and gas-phase syntheses of nanoparticles, nanowires, and nanotubes. Engineered nanomaterials and their assemblies are considered promising candidates for a variety of applications, from solar cells, electronic circuits, light-emitting devices, and data storage to catalysts, biological tags, cancer treatments, and drug delivery. The course covers state-of-the art in these and other areas. Finally, the course provides an overview of the experimental techniques used for structural characterization of inorganic nanomaterials (e.g., electron microscopy, X-ray diffractometry, small-angle X-ray scattering, STM, AFM, Raman spectroscopy).