NANOSCIENCE and NANOTECHNOLOGY
The lecture will consist of two parts. With reference to work done in our laboratory, I will show and explain the very interesting quantum-mechanical behavior of “molecular magnets” or “single molecule magnets” - materials that consist of molecules each of which is a tiny nanomagnet. A brief discussion will be given of the prospects for using these nanomagnets for high-density storage of information, or possibly quantum computation. The second part of the lecture will be devoted to a broader discussion of what is meant by “nanoscience”. Examples will be shown of current research that uses nanoscale objects such as quantum dots and nanotubes to make advances for the collection of solar energy, power transmission, as well as dramatic improvements in medical imaging and targeted cancer therapy.
奈米科學和奈米技術
本講題包含兩部分：第一部分，我將引用我們實驗室的工作成果，顯示並解說很有趣的「分子磁鐵」或「單一分子磁鐵」的量子性質。這是由分子構成的物質，其中每一個分子都是極小的奈米磁鐵。我將簡短介紹這些奈米磁鐵用於儲存資訊，或用於量子計算的遠景。第二部分，我將較為廣泛地討論所謂的奈米科學。舉例說明目前研究奈米尺寸物體如量子點和量子管的進展情形，用於收集太陽能、能量傳輸、以及神速改進的醫學造影術和癌症靶向療法。
MOLECULAR NANOMAGNETS
Starting with a brief discussion of some fundamental physics, this lecture will trace the discovery and early development of the interest in molecular nanomagnets - solids composed of magnetic molecules, where every molecule is a magnet that is tiny by everyday standards but quite large by atomic standards. Early, interesting data will be shown that motivated our studies of the molecular nanomagnet Mn-12 acetate, a decision that led to our discovery of “macroscopic quantum tunneling” in this material, The Mn-12 molecule (and some of its cousins) will be described with the help of a film clip, and the quantum mechanical tunneling process will be discussed in simple, basic terms. Following material showing why these findings are of fundamental interest as well as being interesting for possible applications, the lecture will end with a presentation of our (quite unexpected) discovery of “magnetic burning”, which is a magnetic analogue of chemical burning. I will discuss what we were looking for, what motivated our search, and what we found instead. The process of “magnetic burning” will be illustrated and explained using two animated simulations.
分子磁鐵
首先我將從一些基本的物理講起，追溯分子磁鐵的發現和早期研究的發展。分子磁鐵是由磁性分子組成的固體，其中的每一個分子都是小磁鐵，其大小從日常尺度來看是極小，但從原子的尺度來看，則仍然很大。我將出示促使我們激發動機，進行研究 Mn-12 醋酸鹽的初期而有趣的數據，後來引致我們在這物質內發現「宏觀量子穿隧」效應。我將以一小段影片來幫助描述 Mn-12 分子和類似的族群。我會以簡單和基本的的術語，來介紹量子力學的穿隧過程。接下來，我將說明為何這些發現具有基本性的研究意義以及可能的應用價值。結尾時我將展示一項非常意外的研究發現 ─ 「磁燃燒」，類似於化學燃燒。我將綜結什麼是我們所追尋的，我們的研究動機何在，以及我們所找到的。有兩段模擬動畫用來演示和解釋「磁燃燒」的過程。 |
