Microelectronics was the most important technology of the 20th century. It was fundamental to many new types of new industries and it led to new companies that produced new and exciting the products – including personal computers, the internet, mobile phones, games consoles and MP3 players.
The “micro” in microelectronics refers to electronic chips with dimensions at 1 millionth of a meter, 10-6m or 1 micron. In the 21st Century to maintain equivalent progress we need to take this to the next level and operate on a scale of a 1000th million of a meter, 10-9m, or 1 nanometre.
But nanotechnology will not just be about electronics and physics; it will also include chemistry with new materials, biology and medicine with new sensors, devices and drug delivery – plus lots of other new applications currently being explored.
Nanovisions showcases some aspects of nanotechnology – it is a blend of art, engineering and science. At the Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering, University of Glasgow there are a three major research groups, nano, bio and opto electronics; their activities involve nano and micro technology including modelling, design, fabrication and characterisation of nanodevices. These activities have received a recent boost from a large investment in a new facility, the James Watt Nanofabrication Centre.
Artist Murray Robertson of the Glasgow Print Studio has used the visual material supplied by the University of Glasgow and other sources and has produced images, stills and animations based on this material. The result is a novel vision of a world of micro and nano engineering, normally below the edge of our perception, but fundamental to much of the past, present and future of the modern world.
Data: Department of Electrical Engineering, Glasgow University.
© 2007 M. Robertson/Nanovisions
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