UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL

Summer 2019 Examination Period

School of Physics

Level 6 Examination for the Degree of BSc/MSci in

Physics and Physics Joint Honours

EXAM PAPER CODE PHYS-32600

UNIT CODE PHYS32600

Nanophysics

TIME ALLOWED:
2 hours

Answer ALL FOUR questions

Other Instructions
Closed note examination

Non-programmable calculators may be used

TURN OVER ONLY WHEN TOLD TO START WRITING

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 Physical constants:

Boltzmann constant: k B = 1.38 × 10−23 J K−1

Plank constant: h = 6.63 × 10−34 J s, ~ = 1.06 × 10−34 J s
Mass of the electron: m = 9.1 × 10−31 kg
Charge of the electron: e = −1.60 × 10−19 C
Electronvolt: eV = 1.60 × 10−19 J

Answer ALL questions

1] (30 marks)
a) (10 marks)
i) List the four steps during the creation of nanoparticles from atoms in
solutions to aggregated clusters.
ii) Describe why nanoparticles stabilise at certain sizes and how the average
size can be measured.
iii) Charged particles in a solution containing ions experience a screening
potential characterised by the inverse Debye screening length:
  1/2
2(ze) 2 n 0
κ=  0 k B T .

Define each term in the formula and sketch the ion concentration for counter-
and co-ions (indicating the relative type) as a function of distance from a
charged nanoparticle.
b) (10 marks)
i) Given that the bond length between two carbon atoms in graphene is
aC−C = 1.42 Å, determine the radius of a carbon nanotube with a chiral
vector Ch = (15, 15) .
ii) Determine if the carbon nanotube is a conductor or a semiconductor. Justify
your answer.
iii) Sketch the Brillouin zone of a (3,3) carbon nanotube overlaid on the
reciprocal lattice of graphene. Clearly indicate the axis in the reciprocal
space that is parallel to the axis of the carbon nanotube.
c) (10 marks) A conductive carbon nanotube can be considered as a
one-dimensional system. Given that the free-electron density of states in
one-dimension is g(E) = π1 dE
dk
,

i) show that the density of states at the Fermi energy is g(E F ) = hv2 , where
F
v F is the Fermi velocity.
ii) Sketch the density of states as a function of the energy E .

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2] (20 marks)
a) (10 marks) A quantum point contact can be modelled as a nanowire connecting
two electron reservoirs. Quantised conductance is observed in a quantum point
contact.
i) Describe an experimental set-up capable of producing quantised
conduction. In particular describe how the size of the connection between
the two reservoirs is controlled.
ii) Describe what is actually measured in the previous system to determine
the quantum of conductance between two electron reservoirs and sketch
the typical traces of the conductance. Include axes with relative units.
iii) Does the measurement require low temperature to observe the quantisation
effect?
iv) Use the free-electrons gas model to describe the ballistic conduction in the
nanowire sketched in the diagram below. L is large and does not confine the
electrons but a has nano-scale dimension. The current I flows as described
in the diagram.

Knowing that the quantised energy levels in a one-dimensional potential well

h2 n2
are given by En = 8ma 2 , find the general expression for the energy E n (k z )
of the electrons in the nanowire.
v) If the metal used for the nanowire has a Fermi energy E F = 5.5 eV and
a = 2 nm, show that the number of quantised states (modes) contributing to
the conduction is less than 9.
b) (10 marks)
i) Describe the difference between the Drude-Sommerfield model and the
Lorentz model when describing a free-electron gas interacting with an
oscillatory electric field E0 e−iωt .
ii) For each model, sketch the real and imaginary components of the dielectric
function ε as a function of the wavelength of the exciting light source.
iii) Knowing that the dielectric function according to the Drude-Sommerfeld
ω 2p
model is given by ε(ω) = 1− ω 2 +iΓω , show that spherical gold nanoparticles
coated with a layer of proteins having a dielectric constant larger than water
will scatter light with longer wavelength than uncoated gold nanoparticles in
water.

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3] (30 marks)
a) (10 marks) An optical tweezers set-up needs to be calibrated in order to produce
quantitative results. One method of calibration imposes a constant velocity v0 to
the liquid in which the bead is trapped.
i) Knowing that the friction coefficient for a spherical bead is ς = 6πη R, find
an expression for the stiffness of the optical tweezer set-up as a function of
the velocity v0 and the corresponding displacement d 0 of the bead from the
centre of the trap.
ii) Use Boltzmann’s law to show that a bead trapped in an optical trap with
stiffness k i (along the axis i ) has a gaussian distribution of positions around
the centre of the optical trap. For simplicity, limit the description to one-
dimension.
iii) A bead is close to a surface and is trapped in an optical trap with vertical
stiffness k z = 1 × 10−6 N m−1 . Knowing that the force between the bead
−25
and the surface can be approximated by Fz = − 2.5×10 z N, calculate the
maximum bead-surface distance at which the optical trap will no longer be
able to balance Fz .
b) (8 marks) Atomic force microscopy micro-cantilevers can be used as mass-
sensors.
i) Described the two main methods used to detect excess mass deposited on
a micro-cantilever. In particular emphasise which dynamic or static property
of the cantilever is detected.
ii) Choose one of the two methods and explain how a reduction in dimensions
of the cantilever, that maintains its spring constant unchanged, improves its
mass sensitivity.
c) (12 marks) Scanning tunnelling microscopy can be used in spectroscopy mode
where the tip is kept stationary and the tunnelling current is varied by changing
the tip-sample distance or the bias voltage.
i) Sketch the ideal current versus bias voltage curves in the cases of a metal
and a semiconductor sample. Assume a metal tip. Assume the bias voltage
to be applied to the sample and assume a positive current I when electrons
flow from the tip into the sample.
ii) What is the difference between the part of the graph where the bias
voltage is negative compared to the part of the curve with positive bias?
Make reference to occupied and unoccupied energy levels in the sample
and the tip that are contributing to the tunnelling current.
iii) Write an approximate relation between the tunnelling current and the bias
voltage and explain which electronic property can be measured by
differentiating the current with respect to the bias voltage.
iv) Why is the tunnelling current versus distance curve usually plotted on a
semilogarithmic graph? What electronic property can be directly extracted
in this way?

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4] (20 marks)
a) (10 marks)
i) Describe the two effects that are at work when water molecules interact with
hydrophobic molecules. Explain how hydrophobic molecules re-arrange in
water to minimise these effects.
ii) The adhesion energy per unit of area between two surfaces is given by
W = − 12πAD 2 , where A is the Hamaker constant. Knowing that the adhesive
pressure (not energy!) at a distance of 10 nm is reduced by a factor of one
million with respect to the pressure when the two surfaces are in contact
calculate the distance between the two surfaces when in contact.
iii) Two spheres (1 and 2 in the diagram below) of equal radii R but different
Hamaker constants ( A2 = 2A1 ) are fixed on a horizontal plane. A third
sphere with the same radius and Hamaker constant A1 is positioned
between the two spheres. Knowing that the van der Waals interaction
energy between two spheres of radius R is given by W (D) = − 6D
AR
, find the
ratio between D13 and D32 at the equilibrium position.

b) (10 marks) HEPA filters are commonly used in vacuum cleaners and other
filtration systems to remove fine dust particles. You can assume the fibres in the
filter to have cylindrical shape and the particle to be spherical.
i) Which inter-surface forces play an important role in capturing the particles
while they pass through the filter?
ii) Diffusion is an important mechanism that makes very small particles
come into contact with the filter fibres. If a 300 nm radius particle takes 1
second to go through the filter, and diffuses a mean squared distance
hr 2 i = 2.4 × 10−10 m2 , calculate the mean squared distance explored by a
particle half the size in the same conditions.
iii) Use the Einstein relation and the previous results to explain why the size
of the particles that is quoted in a HEPA filter (normally 300 nm) does not
mean that smaller particles are trapped with smaller efficiency.
iv) Explain how the speed of the flow affects the efficiency of the HEPA filter
for nano-scale particles.

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