PUBLIC LECTURE: "Exploring the Nanoworld"

The structure of the nanoworld is neither intuitively obvious nor easily predicted, and there are many unexpected structures which can only be discovered by exploration.

At the beginning of the 20th century, scientists and poets alike bemoaned the fact that this exploration was at an end, and that much of the microscopic world would forever remain invisible. But as the century passed, many new forms of microscope were developed, including the electron microscope, the scanning tunnelling and atomic force microscopes, and even X-ray microscopes, so that the tools for exploring the nanoworld are now both numerous and powerful.

This lecture will briefly examine this history, and review recent research at the atomic level of a number of systems including quantum dots, intergranular films and filled nanotubes.

This lecture is part of the International Workshop on Nanotechnology 17-20 July 2005.

The specific aim of the workshop is to provide attendees with a detailed understanding and know-how of a variety of aspects of nanotechnology. In doing this we seek to establish and to invigorate synergistic interactions between different research groups in WA and to establish and to enhance collaboration with high calibre national and international researchers.