Nanoscale Foundations

Why small is different. The nanoscale and size effects, semiconductor physics, and quantum confinement, plasmonics and tunnelling.

• Introduction to Nanotechnology & the Nanoscale — Engineering at 1–100 nanometres. Learn what the nanoscale is and how small a nanometre really is, why properties change at this scale (surface-to-volume ratio, quantum confinement, surface energy), nanomaterial dimensionality (0D, 1D, 2D), natural and historical nanomaterials (Lycurgus cup, butterfly wings), the history from Feynman to modern nanotech, key application sectors, and safety and ethics — with Python for surface-to-volume ratio, the fraction of surface atoms and specific surface area.
• Semiconductor Physics — Every chip starts with the physics of silicon. Learn energy bands and the band gap, intrinsic carriers, doping with donors and acceptors, electron and hole concentrations (n·p = nᵢ²), the Fermi level, drift and diffusion currents, mobility and the Einstein relation, conductivity, and how temperature changes it all — with a calculator for doped silicon.
• Quantum Effects at the Nanoscale — Why nanomaterials glow in different colours. Learn wave–particle duality and the de Broglie wavelength, particle-in-a-box energy levels, density of states in 3D, 2D, 1D and 0D, quantum confinement in quantum wells, wires and dots, excitons and the Bohr radius, the Brus equation for quantum-dot band gaps, size-tunable emission, surface plasmon resonance in metal nanoparticles, and tunnelling — with Python for particle-in-a-box energies and CdSe quantum-dot band gaps.