~~~~~~~!!!! Nanotechnology !!!!!~~~~~~ Nanotechnology (nanotech) is the manipulation of matter on an atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scale. The earliest, widespread description of nanotechnology referred to the particular technological goal of precisely manipulating atoms and molecules for fabrication of macroscale products, also now referred to as molecular nanotechnology. A more generalized description of nanotechnology was subsequently established by the National Nanotechnology Initiative, which defines nanotechnology as the manipulation of matter with at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometers.Nanotechnology is so new, no one is really sure what will come of it. Even so, predictions range from the ability to reproduce things like diamonds and food to the world being devoured by self-replicating nanorobots.An atom has a diameter of about 0.1 nm. An atoms nucleus is much smaller -- about 0.00001 nm.The rules of quantum mechanics are very different from classical physics, which means that the behavior of substances at the nanoscale can sometimes contradict common sense by behaving erratically. You cant walk up to a wall and immediately teleport to the other side of it, but at the nanoscale an electron can -- its called electron tunneling. Substances that are insulators, meaning they cant carry an electric charge, in bulk form might become semiconductors when reduced to the nanoscale. Nanotechnology as defined by size is naturally very broad, including fields of science as diverse as surface science, organic chemistry, molecular biology, semiconductor physics, microfabrication, etc. The associated research and applications are equally diverse, ranging from extensions of conventional device physics to completely new approaches based upon molecular self-assembly, from developing new materials with dimensions on the nanoscale to direct control of matter on the atomic scale.
Posted on: Wed, 15 Oct 2014 11:13:28 +0000
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