A General Look at Alchemy Part 3

The Philosopher’s Stone

The Philosopher’s Stone is a catalyst that transmutes an object to its highest expression. With the application of the Stone, for instance, base metals are transformed into gold; men are changed into gods. The stone is a prime requisite in Alchemy and Hermeticism, without it the state of regeneration and resurrection are not attained.

Legends of mystical stones are to be found in various cultures; for instance, taoists refer their stone as the “Stone of Wisdom.” The Burmese called theirs “the Stone of Live Metal.”Muslims venerate a stone that lies reposed in the kaaba. This stone is said to be a fragment of a meteorite. It is traditionally believed to be white in hue but because of the sins of men, it turned black. There is a stone called “Cintamani” said to be a state jewel of the mystical and mythical city of Shamballa. Shamballa is believed to exist in the etheric plane above the Gobi desert. Esoterically speaking, “Cintamani,” or the “love-jewel,” represents the perfect expression of the anahata, or heart chakra, the enlightened mind, or bodicitta. When a seeker is told to acquire Cintamani, the unfoldment of the heart chakra is meant. This has its parallel with the Grail Quest in that, microcosmically speaking, a spiritual principle within man is the object of the search. This is further supported by the tradition that King Solomon’s temple was built without the sound of tools. A certain stone called “shamir” was used to fashion the Temple. Esoterists know that the Temple refers to the causal body, the vessel clothing the Monad, the Spirit of Man. The Temple, or the causal body is built with the shimmering stone of virtues, good works, and an enlightened mind. These are nourishment that beautifies the Temple.

Perfect Love is truly a catalyst. Its power transforms human expression into that of the divine. Love is an aspect of the buddhic component within man; alchemically speaking, it is described as the gluten of the White Eagle.

From the above it can be gathered that the Philosopher’s Stone is no stone in an ordinary sense. This is stressed repeatedly by alchemists in their writings. They declare that the Stone is made out of the First Matter, and is composite of the four elements. The Stone is believed to be hidden within man. Powers of the Godhead are ascribed to this fabulous Stone. Its appearance, so say the alchemists, is unsightly to look at, is to be found in filth, and is valueless to the majority of men. Since there are various categories of alchemy, it is probable that the Stone differs at each alchemical level, taking on a different characteristic and nature.

Aside from Love, other aspects of God, of Omneity, can be said to be the Stone, such as Supreme Reason, Wisdom, Power and Light. These qualities all have the ability to purify and illumine body, mind, and soul. To acquire the Stone is to discover Truth, Reality, and the Absolute, the “fixed,” the non-aggregate–and this is the Magnum Opus–to experience and to know Reality veiled by the “adversary,” “deceiver,” “opposer,” or “maya.” It is the sublimest work any person can do.It fulfills the old adage: “Man, know thyself.” The Stone derives its power from the highest aspect of man, from his divine Self which is essentially a spark of God.

Christ is sometimes described as a stone–a corner stone that is also at the same time its peak–which architecturally, describes a pyramidal structure; in the above sense, Christ, Light, Life, and Love are synonymous, for they all partake the nature of the Stone; they all have the capacity to transmute man’s being. Christ Consciousness is the Stone that transmutes man holistically.

The heart of the crown chakra, and the heart chakra anchored to the thymus gland, are sites where the stone unfolds its power. Within the crown, the sahasrara chakra, the Christ Stone magnetizes the head centers and crystallizes in the brain ventricles, resulting in the manifestation of hormones and nectars of a spiritual quality that flows into the blood stream and raising the vibratory rate of the body’s atomic-structure. This transformed blood is the saving blood of Christ.

There is a divine flame of life, anchored in the heart. When nourished by the mystic Stone, by the Love–Life–Light principle, it radiates energy and magnetism to the surrounding area–to the thymus gland, to the pericardiac sac and fluid, and to the heart itself. It regenerates the blood cells as the blood stream circulates through the heart and lungs resulting in youth, vitality and radiant health. Hindu yogis declare that those who do not love, grow old quickly. In the light of the above, the “how” and “why” are easily discerned.

There are occultists who believe that the Philosopher’s Stone represents a certain gnosis transmitted to worthy aspirants by Adepts of the Art. This Stone, then, concerns doctrines of mystical/occult principles that allows one to attain perfection in a single life time. Initiation and ritual play a vital role in this transmission. By applying esoteric principles, the aspirant is transformed into a master soul. An Adept is in a sense the Philosopher’s Stone, for his very presence transmutes all who are fortunate enough to come into contact with him.

The First Matter

Nothing comes from nothing, therefore, matter and life must have had a source. The Absolute is that source; it is the Supreme Reality, and it is constantly emanating and absorbing back into Itself the energies and intelligences that manifest universes into existence. Out of the Absolute, there is an effluence of Prakriti and Purusha–Cosmic Root Substance and Cosmic Mind-Consciousness-Intelligence. These two principles are personified by Shiva and Shakti.

Cosmic Root Substance is the Prima Materia, the First Matter, or “Chaos,” from which all elements and substance proceed. It is spirit energy unstructured as yet into particles of matter by the Cosmic Mind. Hindu mystics sometimes call First Matter “Akasha,” meaning “Space.”

Cosmic Mind creates by presenting a form, a thought-form, a blue-print of the intended manifestation, and coalescing around it the required substance from Prima Materia. First, the fluidic energies are concentrated into electrons, protons, and other subatomic particles; they are later combined to form an atom, which possesses the germ of “the Seed,” the atomic number and structure of the blue-print and thoughtform of what it will eventually become. Atoms are then grouped to molecules which are later formed into a mass cognizable by the senses. The substance then fills the form-image, the “husk” of the Seed.

The mind of Man, being part of the Cosmic Mind, has the potential of creating in a similar manner as the Supreme Creator. Only when Man truly reflects the image of his creator will he be given authority to do so.

Alchemists declare that the First Matter is to be found within Man. Actually, our whole universe is permeated with it. It is everywhere present but no where manifested until magnetized by the Mind.

Differentiation between Matter and Consciousness is solely an illusion existing at the surface of Reality. The Many in its relative existence can be reduced to one–the Absolute, the Supreme Being. Qabalistically speaking, The fruits of the Tree of Life are absorbed into Ain Sof and Ain Sof Aur; these are reduced in their essence to Ain, the One, the All, the Unknowable.

The Seed

In a figurative sense, the alchemical seed, just like an ordinary seed, possesses both germ and husk–the male and female qualities. As applied to alchemy, the germ is the atomic number and the “DNA” of the substance, while the husk is the form that the substance would fill. Thoughtforms are seeds. They are blue-prints that manifest in the physical plane when magnetized and substantialized with the First Matter.

Alchemical Seeds are archetypes–the essences or germs of manifestations, and that which is in the process of being manifested. Everything has a seed, a conception of what a thing is destined to be. Mind, the Director, the Philosopher’s Stone, nourishes Seeds with Prima Materia.

The following are the probable steps used by medieval alchemists for a transmutation on the physical level: first, the base metal is molten down–the heat of the flame has a transforming effect on the molecular level. Secondly, at a certain point of the operation, the mind of man comes into play, controlling and directing at atomic and subatomic levels–changing the vibratory rate, the atomic number and structure into gold. It is said that to make gold we must have gold. This does not refer to the adding to base metals a piece of gold. This seed of gold, is a seed in the form of an electronic pattern or blueprint of gold held in one’s higher consciousness. The mind must be in a gold-consciousness state.

On a transcendental level, to transmute oneself into a god, one would require a god-pattern, a god-ideal visualized and meditated upon. Once the picture is perfected one assumes or identifies oneself with it, keeping it constantly in mind even after the meditation session. This would result in an increased vibratory rate of the various principles composing Man. Technically, the mind of Man synchornizes with the god-archetype, and by magnetic induction, is transformed into the god. Visualization, or mental imaging, is the method used with which the archetype is established. Precipitation may occur instantly, as in a paranormal manifestation, or after a lapse of time depending on the nature and magnitude of the archetype.

The processes described above appear to be one of the great Hermetic secrets of the Egyptian Mysteries. The methods correspond with the practices of Vajrayana in Tibetan Buddhism, as for instance, the discipline of the “divine pride” of being a Buddha.

Ethically speaking, before man attempts to put the forces of nature into action, it is expedient that he contemplates as to the worthiness of his designs. If his designs do not fit nor fulfill divine requirements, then bringing them into manifestation would simply be a violation of Cosmic law, and consequently, may be regarded as an operation of black magick. According to Martinism, it is this very violation of the Law that brought about “the Fall” of Adam Kadmon.

Mercury-Sulphur-Salt

According to alchemists, Mercury, Salt and Sulphur are the three-fold aspects of all phenomena–to be found in all compounds of a mineral or organic nature. It is postulated that by differing the proportions of each aspect in a compound, would cause a transmutation to occur. Mercury, as well as Salt and Sulphur, are not the common vulgar materials so used to effect a transmutation. This is made clear by exponents of the Royal Art.

Esoterically, Mercury represents Spirit, Salt–Body; and Sulphur–Soul. Every phenomenon and object in Nature is believed to possess these three attributes. It is thought that by separating each aspect of an aggregate substance, purifying, and then recombining them, the result would be a total refinement of the object.

Philosophically speaking, Mercury is the Mind; Salt–Will and Wisdom; Sulphur–Love. The three are components or principles of the Philosopher’s Stone, and they work potently to transmute any base metal or character into golden perfection. Without these principles, the coveted Stone is ineffectual in its capacity to change vibratory rates.

Sulphur moulds a person into a balanced individual, with the desire and motive to act creatively; Salt actually bestows the individual with the will and power to act; while Mercury, the intellectual principle, is the coordinating factor of both Sulphur and Salt. Mercury, Sulphur, and Salt together with the mysterious Azoth, the Divine Fire, or “Scamayim,” are the attributes of the Stone, and they work wonders when applied knowledgeably. These triune principles and Azoth correspond to the Christian Trinity and teh feminine principle personified by Mary. Azoth is the Shakti aspect of the triune godhead.

The Seven Metals

Metals in the world of alchemy and esotericism, in general, represents various conditions and principles to be found in Man and Nature. For instance, metals may represent the seven components or bodies making-up the being called “Man”; the seven exoteric rays from the Great Central Sun; and the seven major chakras within the subtle body. The seven metals also correspond to the seven angels presiding over the rays; to the seven archangels, the seven Chohans, the seven pairs of Elohims, etc.

Symbolically, the seven metals represent the seven planets known to the ancients–counting also the sun and moon, which are not planets proper, but a solar body and a satellite. The correspondences are as follows: gold-Sun, silver-Moon, lead-Saturn, mercury-Mercury, tin-Jupiter, iron-Mars, and copper-Venus.

The true subject of alchemy is Man–Man is the object of the transmutation. The alchemist is at once the subject and the object, the operator and that which is operated upon. Metals are associated with elements of Man’s character. Pure gold is the character of a “perfect” person–it is the manifestation of that perfection already inherent within man’s highest principle.

Within the etheric body, the chakras are the microcosmic planets. In Gichtel’s “Theosophia Practica,” a diagram is shown of a human being with the position of the orbs placed in the body. This indubitably reveals the fact that the chakras were known by Occidental mystics in the past centuries and played an important role in their spiritual tradition. The seven seals in Revelation is indeed another “revelation” of this fact.

Compassion is one of the Ego’s highest feelings for other life-units who are struggling in the business of living. The sense of unity with all life around is an indication of one’s growing realization of God. Being “my brother’s keeper” is no longer a burden to such a person advancing in the spiritual path; it is a dharma or duty that one feels a privilege in obeying–of being true to Self. It was because of such a sense of duty that spiritual alchemists embarked upon the search for a Universal Panacea to cure the ills, suffering, and pain of a fallen humankind.

Pain, illnesses, and imbalances may be found in various levels of the microcosm–the physical, emotional, mental, etc. The Universal Panacea, in general, can be said, to be principles and laws of God that would establish harmony and health if applied.

Physical pain and illness are the result of a lack of prana, of the life-force, or “Mumia,” as Paraclesus called it, into the psycho-biological system. This interrupted flow is mainly the result of a psychic condition unleashed by negative thoughts and emotions. When the channels or prana-influx are purified, when the Yin and Yang, the positive and negative polarities within the body are well-balanced, when the four elements residing in the body are in a state of equilibrium, then health should result.

There is a higher source of the life-essence that is rayed from the Great Central Sun directly to the Monad and down to the Atma of man, and this is associated with the flame of life residing in the physical heart. Daily devotions to the flame within and to the “Father who art in heaven,” causes a descent of the essences of life, of the Atmic fire, into the quaternary vehicles of Egoic expression and results in a regeneration of the whole psychobiological system.

A surplus of the life-force within the body is radiated-out and forms an aura of protection around the corpus. There are, however, major terminal points where the life-force flow out in a concentrated state. The hands are just two of these terminal points. The energy radiated out from these chakras are called by various names: Od-force, animal magnetism, nerve energy, etc. Egyptian mystics of bygone days called it “Sa-Ankh.”

There is an interesting concept concerning the above principle and the Atmic fire. When concentrating and meditating upon the Atma, the higher forces tends to flow more abundantly, and this energy together with the solar, lunar, and earth prana, when imbued upon a substance, such as water, would cause the fluid to be charged with life-essences capable of restoring the sick into wholeness when consumed by them.

This magnetically charged water can be considered as one of the manifestations of the Elixir of lIfe, the Nectar of the gods, or the Universal Panacea. Tantric icons of deities are sometimes depicted as holding a vessel of nectar in their hands. Evidently, a certain law and principle are indicated by this mudra. Practitioners of meditation would do well to experiment holding in their hands a cup of water during meditation and consuming it directly after the meditation session. The result could be invigorating and vivifying to the psycho-biological system, reinforcing the vital forces already present.

Fire

Fire is essentially divine, emanating as it does from the godhead. “God is a consuming fire,” is a well-known expression to be found in holy scriptures. Fire purifies and accelerates the motion of atomic particles–it increases their vibration. Fire is a creative principle, a divine tool in Shiva’s hand, transforming and transmuting matter to spirit, and spirit to matter. Heraclitus considered fire to be the first principle from whence all things owe their existence; by “fire” he meant the Divine fire, the “Scamayim” of the Qaballists that is continuously being outpoured by Ain Sof. The center of this emanation in our solar system is the sun. In man, it is the Monad. This indicates that all that is, is essentially fire.

Man, the Monad, is a spark of Fire from the Great Central Sun; all of Man’s principles are fire in lesser manifestation and intensity. A spark of the Monad lies hidden in Man’s heart. Fueling this flame with daily devotions of Right Action, Right Thought, Right Speech, meditation and prayer, increases the power, wisdom, and love of the divine nature of Man–this is spiritually represented by the threefold nature of the heart-flame, the fleur-de-lis.

Adepts of alchemy advise their students to work on the Prima Materia with the Internal and External Fire; that is, the fires of the mind, kundalini, Christ substance, sexual energy, prana, and chemical fire. This teaching of master minds reveals that fire manifests in various ways in visible and non-visible worlds. Fire is defined as “an internal activity whose external manifestation are heat and light.”

Fire was worshipped in various ancient cultures as a manifestation of the Supreme Being. Initiates of the temples invoked the Divine Fire within their beings in their daily rituals of adoration and esoteric exercises. Alchemy continues the tradition of honoring the fiery principle, however, adding a new dimension to the rites of worship by applying it practically and scientifically.

Mythologically, Prometheus was said to have stolen fire from heaven and given it to primitive man, to the displeasure of the gods, for humankind was not yet ready to use this principle in a creative, unselfish manner. The secrets of Fire was subsequently withdrawn, but not completely, for here and there, the sons (initiates) of those gods came of age and were, consequently, entrusted with the mysteries of fire and were given the authority to wield the force intelligently, wisely, and compassionately for the benefit of all beings.

In nanotechnology, a science still in the theoretical stage, miniature machines on the nano scale are hoped to be realized by future generations. The problem faced by scientist today is the creation of the first nano-machine, a “universal assembler,” that would create other machines and parts composing of selected molecules and which would later be programmed to do special work. One of their ideas of developing this nano universal-assembler is to create a tiny assembler in the millimeter scale that would in turn create another assembler of a smaller dimension, and so on until it reaches the nano scale. This technology when realized, has a wide range of application in the fileds of medicine, ecology, and industry. The potential for abuse is also inherent. In a sense this infant science is related to alchemy, for its development is applicable in the art of transmutation and precipitation on the physical level. Using their own terminology, it is the fires of the alchemist’s mind that is the “universal assembler.”

Fire fascinates and hypnotizes man, almost bearing him away to higher realities, as allegorized by the myth of Zeus in the form of an eagle snatching away Ganymede to the heavens. The closer one approaches God’s fiery presence, the more one is cleansed of all karmic sins lodging and ossifying the four lower bodies.

Copyright © 2006 Luxamore

Crist vetoes $5M for FGCU innovation hub as part of $371M in cuts

Crist vetoes $5M for FGCU innovation hub as part of $371M in cuts
Gov. Charlie Crist on Friday vetoed $5 million in planning and construction funds for Florida Gulf Coast University’s Innovation Hub project near the Southwest Florida International Airport.

Read more on Bonita Daily News

NanoSense – how Nanotechnology is improving our everyday lives – part 1

We are all now on a Fantastic Voyage

Do you remember ‘Fantastic Voyage’ – the sci-fi film in which scientists shrank a submarine and crew, injected them into a dying man , and saved him from certain death before being resized for more adventures?

Scripted by Harry Kleiner in 1966 and novelized for Bantam paperbacks 6 months later by Isaac Asimov, it spawned an animated TV series as well as a Salvador Dali painting.  Now, some 40 years later, it is seeing practical application in space and cancer medicine, as well as arguably more prosaic areas like materials science.   

Today it is called ‘Nanotechnology’ and in this series of brief articles we’ll be exploring how it is beginning to influence the world around us.  It begins by linking medical and building science.

Nanontechnology in a Nutshell

The science of Nanotechnology deals with very, very small structures, usually less than 100 nanometers in diameter.  With 1 nanometer being 1 billionth of a meter, you’ll get some idea of how small this is by imagining the earth as having a diameter of 1 meter with 1 billion apple pips (seeds) inside it.  Or, looked at another way, the dimension ratio between a meter and a nanometer is the same as between earth and an apple.  

For the mathematical purists among you 1nm = 10 -09 m, i.e. 1/1,000,000,000

Einstein might have imagined this by building a train wagon in his mind, giving this a length, width and height of 1nm and then fitting this inside a few hundreds of hydrogen molecules.

For scientists and technologists this has special interest because at this size materials reveal unique properties when compared not only with ordinary bulk sized materials, but also their molecules. In essence they take advantages of properties that neither individual molecules nor molecular structures exhibit.

For example, if we could see it a gold nanoparticle deposited on a surface would appear purple, rather than shiny and ‘golden’ that we presently recognize.

Again, if you can imagine a molecule as having a very small atom at it’s core with many electrons spinning around this, all held together by the power of attraction, then you’ll get some idea of the scale of things they are working with.

Another example of particular interest to scientists and technologists currently working, or considering working  in this area is that of Titanium Dioxide (titania).  This is used in paints to give that extremely white, opaque finish.  But nanonised titania is completely transparent.    


Nanomedicine

Drug discovery, drug delivery and continuing miniaturization are three areas in which medicine has joined our Fantastic Voyage. Long-term, in-vivo diagnostics and more targeted therapy without side effects are on the horizon. Being able to look for drug targets on a cellular rather than multi-cellular, or tissue basis can be much more precise. Biosensors and molecule probes allow cellular processes to be examined and drug development aimed at molecular targets.

Latest treatment techniques already allow a drug to be put inside a nanoparticle, like a carbon or silicon nanotube.  This might also hold antibodies to bind the drug, enabling smaller doses to be delivered direct to the targeted tissue. Various nanoparticle drug formulations are already being investigated in animal models and early stage clinical studies in humans.

Treating Cancer & Diabetes

Using such nanobots, i.e. vehicles for carrying treatments, radioactive generators are already being injected.  Going direct to the infected tissue these give small radiation doses to treat the cancer without all the unpleasant side effects of radiation therapy.   

By encapsulating pancreatic cells inside nanoparticles they can be kept alive to secrete insulin without being attacked by antibodies.  It’s not a cure for diabetes, but does avoid unpleasant injections, delivering the insulin in a natural way.

Brain Tumors and Space Medicine

Neuroscientists are developing nanoparticles to cross the brain-blood barrier and could be treating brain tumors within a couple of years.  Meanwhile NASA is pursuing remote diagnostics and treatments for space travelers, like radiation damaged cells.  As Cecilia Haberzettl, founder and president of TechnoMed Strategic Partners, recently wrote in Nanotechnology

“When a cell is damaged by radiation it expresses different proteins on its surface. The nanobot would detect those proteins and then repair the cell, either by giving it antioxidants or by enhancing the natural mechanisms of DNA repair by some technique yet to be defined. Or, if the damage is severe, the nanobot could trigger the cell to die. All of that could happen while the astronauts are up in space, while avoiding communication delays due to the distance from the Earth.”

Next Time

From treating humans to treating the buildings in which they live, how nanotechnology is being used in materials science and how a Greek entrepreneurial scientist has developed products that protect surfaces from stains, moulds, and fungus.  Personally recognised by Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, for the innovative nature of their work, they are undoubtedly delivering cutting edge nanotech inventions and technical excellence to improve and add value to a wide range of everyday products.

Look out for the next article to learn how this little company is experiencing burgeoning international growth by delivering massive advances and technical excellence in surface protections.

Standards Will Help Ensure Order In Nano-Enabled Industries Part 1

Like the California gold rush of 1849, the emergence of nanotechnology presents both an enormous opportunity and enormous risks. Just as new techniques, rewards, and challenges emerged during the gold rush era, nanotechnology exploration will inevi­tably lead to the development of new tools to achieve new breakthroughs, the opportunity for creating enormous wealth, and unfor­tunately, the potential for environmental, health, and safety disasters. Although nano­technology undoubtedly will create disrup­tive technologies that will spin off many new jobs, it also has the potential for displacing existing workers unprepared to take on these new technologies.

The first fruits of nano R&D are already being harvested as disciplines as diverse as materials, electronics, biotechnology, and computing rush to exploit nanotechnology’s potential. Many consumers have already become familiar with nano-derived products, such as improved types of cosmetics, fabrics, paints, plastics, or personal electronics.

Nanotechnology offers all-but-unlimited opportunities for those who can develop the next exotic material or electronic component that is cheaper, better, and faster than today’s CMOS devices. It also holds huge promise for those who will create the tools needed to produce these materials and devices. Despite the recession, corporate and government labs around the world continue to invest bil­lions in nanoscience research. Unfortunately, unless the public and private sectors work in cooperation to develop standardized test methods and guidelines, the transition from the laboratory to the marketplace could create many of the same problems as the California gold rush did, particularly for the environment. However, with careful plan­ning, we can have the appropriate terminol­ogy, test measurement methods, reporting, and environmental, safety, and health safe­guards in place early enough to ward off serious consequences.

Why Are Standards So Important?

Very simply, standards are crucial to achieving a high degree of interoperability, creating order in the marketplace, simplify­ing production requirements, managing the potential for adverse environmental impacts, and most important, ensuring the safety and health of those developing and using the next generation of materials and devices.

Standards for nano terminology, mate­rials, devices, systems, and processes will help establish order in the marketplace. For R&D researchers and engineers, standards make it possible to make measurements and report data consistently in a way that others can understand clearly. Those responsible for developing standards will be at the forefront in understanding the need for, and creation of, new characterization tools, processes, components, and products to help jump-start this emerging field. This kind of approach can represent a competitive tool in global markets. Creating a standard in advance of the release of a new technology allows both manufacturers and consumers to gain greater confidence in it, promoting greater acceptance and faster adoption.

The following examples illustrate the importance of early standards development.

Carbon Nanotubes

Although some of the more sophisticated electronics and medical advances scientists have envisioned are still years down the road, the development of some nanoscale raw materials, particularly carbon nanotubes (CNTs), is already well underway. Years before CNTs were commercially available, industry observers heard how they would bring significant performance advantages to electronics, enhance materials to make them stronger and lighter, and might even be part of the solution to our energy problems. This industry buzz, plus the massive private and public sector investments in nano research, built interest at every level. In 2000, the late Dr. Richard Smalley spun off his work to form Carbon Nanotechnologies Inc. (now Unidym) with the goal of commercializing his method of producing large batches of high-quality nanotubes. Unfortunately, at that point, there were no manufacturing stan­dards or guidelines for ensuring the repro­ducibility of the company’s manufacturing process. There were also no known test and measurement guidelines for verifying the reproducibility and proving results on a large scale. Given this, how would the company have assured its customers of the quality of its products? Or just as important, how could customers choose confidently among various manufacturers’ CNTs based on their product description?

Buying carbon nanotubes isn’t like buy­ing baseballs or bananas—it’s impossible to judge their quality just by looking at them. En masse, CNTs basically look like a pile of soot. How can incoming inspec­tors verify what they have received? How do they know whether they are single-walled or multi-walled tubes? Given the different spe­cies of carbon nanotubes now available (tubes that are metal or semiconducting, based on their chirality), most companies looking to purchase nanotubes would have had no basis on which to ensure that what they received is what they ordered. However, with a standard in place, customers have the tools needed to verify the materials they are purchasing.

Materials Characterization Techniques

Characterizing the specific properties of raw CNTs or other nanoscale materials is obviously important, but what about nano­scale materials intended to enhance bulk materials or to create new materials with enhanced properties? What kinds of testing and reporting standards are needed? Must both mechanical and electrical testing be included when designing new materials?

Probing and microscopy are used rou­tinely to uncover new materials properties, but probe force should also be considered. What happens to the electrical properties of a nanoscale material under a particular probe force? Some very thin materials can exhibit localized phase transformations at the probing location, which can change their electrical characteristics. What kind of test­ing standards and guidelines are necessary to support probe force?

Nanomechanical testing has become a popular way of determining quantita­tive, small volume mechanical properties. Conceptually, nanoindentation is a rela­tively straightforward technique in which an indenter probe of a well-known geometry is pushed into and withdrawn from the mate­rial’s surface while the force and displace­ment are continuously recorded. Conductive nanoindentation, a new technique, combines nanoindenter hardware with a conductive probe and voltage/current source-and-mea­sure instrumentation to produce a time-based correlation of force, displacement, voltage, and current. When used in tandem, nanome­chanical and electrical measurements have proven highly sensitive to probe/sample contact conditions, as well as to material deformation behavior, which adds important information to that obtainable from nano­scale point measurements.

From a standards perspective, the most important question becomes whether a broader audience would find this testing method acceptable. Would the nanomateri­als community accept this as a best practice measurement method and as a potential stan­dard test methodology?

This is the first of a two-part series about standards in nano technology.

Standards Will Help Ensure Order In Nano-Enabled Industries Part 2

The IEEE has assumed a leadership position in the development of nanoelec­tronics standards. The factors driving the development of these standards are the need for reproducibility of results, international collaboration, and a common means of communicating across traditional scientific disciplines. This activity is driven by the IEEE Nanotechnology Council (NTC), an interdisciplinary group with members repre­senting 21 IEEE societies. NTC is currently involved in a variety of standards efforts and activities.

“IEEE Standard Test Methods for Measurement of Electrical Properties of Carbon Nanotubes” was one of the first nanotechnology standards with which the IEEE became involved. This effort was driven by the need for a way to reproduce and prove lab results on a much larger scale and to establish common metrics and a minimum requirement for reporting. The standard’s main purpose is to establish methods for the electrical characteriza­tion of carbon nanotubes and the means of reporting performance and other data. These methods enable the creation of a suggested reporting standard that are used from the research phase through manufacturing as the technology is developed. Moreover, the standard recommends the necessary tools and procedures for validation.

It took more than two years to complete development of the IEEE 1650 standard, which was approved in December 2005. Since then, other standards bodies have been busy developing their own standards. In addition, the IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA) has been exploring support for the adoption of IEEE 1650 by several interna­tional bodies. For example, in collaboration with the NTC, IEEE-SA pursued a dual-logo agreement for the 1650 standard with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Technical Committee 113, Working Group 3 Performance of Nanomaterials for Electrotechnical Components and Systems. Last November, the IEC TC 113 decided to adopt ANSI/IEEE Std1650 -2005 as a dual logo.

IEEE P1690
Breakthroughs in nanotechnology have received greater attention during the past few years, in part due to significant advances in materials performance and processing tech­niques. One potential impediment to wide­spread introduction of carbon nanotubes used as additives in bulk materials is the lack of defined standards for their characterization. Also, methods for reporting performance and other data have not been established; each scientist or engineer has independently developed measurement procedures that may or may not be definitively comparable with the results of others. To address these concerns, IEEE-SA approved the creation of the IEEE P1690TM Working Group in late 2005. A team was tasked with developing “Standard Methods for the Characterization of Carbon Nanotubes Used as Additives in Bulk Materials.” The standard will suggest procedures for characterizing and reporting data that will be used by research through manufacturing; methods will be indepen­dent of processing routes used to fabricate the carbon nanotubes. The standard will rec­ommend the necessary tools and procedures for validation.

The NESR Initiative
The NanoElectronics Standards Roadmap (NESR) Initiative is working to create a framework through which the IEEE-SA and the nanoelectronics community can work in cooperation to define a roadmap for nano­electronics standards that will:

Identify high-value standards opportunities
Frame near-term standards
Leverage, not duplicate, existing sources
Stimulate industry collaboration
Accelerate nanoelectronics standards development
Establish a framework for proactive management of standards

Those involved in the NESR Initiative are responsible for developing and driving a standards roadmap that will help elec­tronic nanotechnology innovations make a smooth transition from the laboratory to the marketplace in the communications, infor­mation technology, consumer products and optoelectronics sectors. The NESR roadmap has gained considerable interest from repre­sentatives of the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors and the International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative. Members are currently focusing on nanomaterials and devices that will have a short-term impact on industry, while also assessing the long-term needs of an elec­tronics industry based on nanoelectronic architectures. Within these areas, standards have been prioritized by testing them against four criteria:

Technology maturity: Is the technology well enough understood to standardize?

Clear near-term applications: Does the standard eliminate near-term roadblocks, ensuring a rapid payback for the effort involved?

High business value: Does the standard offer multiple device-circuit-application “threads”?

Fits IEEE role – Nanoelectronics: Does the definition of electronics stretch a bit at the nanoscale level?

On March 28, 2008, IEEE-SA approved the first NESR Project Authorization Request (PAR) to create a standards working group on “Nanomaterials Characterization and Use in Large Scale Electronics Manufacturing.” The PAR is denoted PAR1784. The purpose of this standard is to enable the quick, low-risk adoption of nanomaterials into large-scale electronics manufacturing. In addition, a best set of common practices will be delin­eated for use in semiconductor fabs.

Efforts in nanomaterial research and development for use in semiconductor VLSI technology are increasing exponentially. The common availability of nanomaterials is allowing engineers to explore new methods to exploit the mechanical, electromagnetic, and quantum properties of nanotubes, nanowires, and nanoparticles—not just theoretically but experimentally. To exploit the enhanced properties of new nano-scale materials fully, industries (including the semiconductor industry) that use nano-enhanced materials must embrace a new set of best practices for large-scale manufacturing.

What Benefits Do Standards Offer?
Standards offer a major benefit to a tech­nology by supporting its evolution. In fact, standards are the defining precursor of prod­ucts whose intended performance they pre­scribe. A variety of benefits are attributable to standards:

They give end users confidence that products are safe and reliable, and that they will perform as they are intended. Standards establish consistent expecta­tions and help ensure those expectations are met.

Standards create a common language that manufacturers and end users can use to communicate on issues like quality and safety.
Standards help promote product compat­ibility and interoperability.
Standards help overcome trade barriers for global markets.
Standards foster the diffusion and adop­tion of new technologies. In addition to giving participants in the development process early access to technical know-how, participants can influence how cer­tain test or measurement guidelines can be documented, thereby affecting the content of the standard.

Participating in the develop­ment of IEEE 1650 is a good example of how companies can gain a competitive advantage by participating in the develop­ment of standards. Participation in standards development also offers advantages for the public sector by spurring improved national competitive­ness, education, and job creation.

The Expanding Standards Community
Participants from the public and private sectors have traditionally written most of the standards because they tend to derive the greatest benefit from them. Although the aca­demic community has been relatively slow to get involved in standards development, the public and private sectors have often called upon them to provide expertise because of their experience in validating applications-oriented research. Having the public, private, and academic communities unite together to develop standards for international adoption is in everyone’s best interests.

Thinking Globally
Standards development must be a global effort. Certain countries around the world are making it a primary part of their own research plans. For example, the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology has made the drafting of nanotechnology research standards part of its national basic research plan. Other countries are striving for leadership positions within standards organizations so that they can help shape the standards to which everyone must adhere.

One of the many challenges that must be overcome is how to prioritize which stan­dards to develop next, based on measurement best practices and characterization processes. We need to understand whether the measure­ment tools available today are the right tools from an international perspective.

Although international barriers must be taken into account, creating an international working collective will simplify the devel­opment of standards and allow for broader acceptance. Currently, no one country is in complete control nor is there one standard that predominates, but global agreements will be necessary if nano standards develop­ment is to stay in sync with the technologies themselves. This need creates opportunities for everyone. Standard development is a people project and virtually every standards development organizations could put your efforts to good use, whether you’re an engi­neering student, an academic, or someone who works in the public or private sectors. Participating in standards development is an excellent way to begin to establish oneself as an expert. While it doesn’t take up much time, your reward can be increased visibility for you and your organization.

This is the second of a two-part series about standards in nano technology.