........ published in NEWSLETTER # 50
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........ published in NEWSLETTER # 50
COMPUTATIONS FOR THE NANOSCALE
by Dr. A.J. Fisher, University, Durham (U.K.)
The NATO Advanced Research Workshop on `Computations for the Nanoscale' was organized by Christian Joachim (CEMES_CNRS Toulouse) and Peter Bloechl (IBM Zurich) in Aspet (France) in October 1992 to bring together theoretical physicists and chemists with a common interest in the modelling of nanoscale structures and processes. These systems are intermediate in size between individual molecules on the one hand and conventional macroscopic objects on the other. They are capable of exhibiting extremely complex behaviour, yet many of the assumptions which are made in conventional macroscopic physics (such as the unimportance of fluctuations and weak coupling to the environment) are not appropriate. The importance of this field arises partly from the qualitatively new phenomena which appear, and partly from the necessity of understanding and manipulating processes on this length scale if progress in the miniaturization of technology is to be maintained.
In addition to the theoreticians, a small number of experimentalists also gave presentations. One of the aims of the workshop was to explore the common ground between experiment and theory that is being created as the size of the system which can be synthesized, manipulated and visualized experimentally becomes of the same order as that of systems which can be simulated theoretically.
The proceedings of the workshop (NATO ASI SERIES E240) consist of five sections, although because of the interdisciplinary nature of the subject matter there is inevitably considerable overlap between them. A common theme of nanoscale science is the use of a solid surface for growth, patterning or deposition of structures, and the first section,`Surface physics and self_ assembled monolayers', explores the surface science underlying these processes. The second section, `Aggregates and processes at interfaces', continues this theme and emphasizes the new types of dynamics that occur in nanoscale friction, melting and flow processes.
In the third section, `Chemistry and molecular electron transfer', attention shifts to the assembly of molecular aggregates and the exploitation of their electronic properties to create electronic devices. The fourth section focusses on the scanning probe techniques which, perhaps more than any others, exemplify the progress in nanoscience, while the fifth and final section extends the discussion of electron transport to mesoscopic systems.
The field of nanoscience seems posed for a period of rapid growth. This snapshot of the field will provide postgraduate, postdoctoral and research workers entering it with an overview of theoretical and experimental work in the several different (and traditionally separate) disciplines which make it up.
Reference books: B292, B293, B294, E235, E239, E240