Nanotechnology
One of the biggest scientific
trends of the 21st century has been centered on something incredibly
small: nanotechnology. You’ve read
about it in the papers, heard glowing reports on television, and perhaps you’ve
enjoyed reading about the possibilities of nanotechnology in science fiction.
But what is
nanotechnology? That is the most
difficult question to answer, even though it’s all over the news these
days. The crux of the problem is that it
is beyond the understanding of most people.
Unless you’ve studied it extensively in university (and even then the
picture isn’t necessarily complete, trust me) you won’t know what a quantum dot
is, or what an atomic force microscope does.
To understand what nanotechnology is, you need to accurately encapsulate
the academic struggle that is going on as we speak. You’ll need to know the underlying science that drives it, the
tools we use to apply it, and the potential benefits and dangers of it.
Symbols
Just a word of
warning before we continue: I’ll be using metric units throughout these
extensive discussions. No one does
nanotechnology with US Imperial units.
Let’s run through the units of length from largest to smallest
m = meter (the metric
standard unit of length, or 39.4 inches)
cm = centimeter (100
cm per m, or 10-2 m)
mm = millimeter
(1000 mm per m, or 10
-3 m)
mm = micrometer
(1,000,000 mm per m, or 10-6
m)
nm = nanometer (1,000,000,000
nm per m, or 10-9 m)
Å = angstrom (10,000,000,000 Å per m, or 10-10 m)
Definition
Nanotechnology is a
broad term for the application of scientific understanding towards fabricating
devices and materials at the nanometer scale.
To give you a
perspective, consider that the computer you are using right now uses a wide
array of micro technology.
Computer processors are often fabricated using processes in the
micrometer regime. The latest
processors are encroaching on the nanometer regime with new
Extreme-Ultra-Violet lithography that pushes the envelope with 0.09 mm feature sizes (which converts to 90 nm).
In order to qualify
for the term nanotechnology, the yardstick (if you forgive the archaic reference)
is about 20 nm or less for the constraining feature size. That’s about the size when you start seeing
significantly new forces governing the behavior of materials. We’ll discuss this shortly in the science
sections.
Topic Breakdown
As we move through
our nanotechnology series, I’ll cover the bare essentials starting with the
basic scientific principles that we seek to take advantage of in the nanoscale
regime.
Once we have covered
the science, we will quickly move on to the major synthesis methods utilized by
researchers around the world.
The next sections
will deal with the tools we use to create nanotechnology along with the
potential benefits of nanotechnology in its various forms.
At the end we will
discuss nanotechnology and its close ties with educational institutions and
researchers around the world.
Moving On
Yes, that is it for
the basic overview of nanotechnology.
The topic is too broad to spend discussing it on a superficial
level. Read on for more information!
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