Synthesis

Let's get one thing straight right off the bat.  Nanotechnology isn't about mass manufacturing right now.  You won't see production lines any time soon, and in fact they may never exist.  That's because building such small things from scratch requires extremely sensitive equipment and many dangerous chemicals.  In fact, one common process known as MCVD (metallic chemical vapor deposition) is known in academic circles to stand as Many Chances for Violent Death.  Just to allay your fears, not that many people have ever died in a lab accident while working on a nanotechnology project.  It's just a reflection of the wry sense of humor found in most institutional labs.

Considering the many challenges in laboratory environments, sample sensitivity, and so on, the current synthesis of nanostructured materials is a time-consuming task with extremely low yields.  As such, the entire field of nanotechnology synthesis is mainly academic.  There are only a few companies in the world that can claim to be nanotechnology manufacturers.  The rest are all based in institutionalized laboratories doing government funded research.

There are two competing paradigms of synthesis each with their own pros and cons.  The traditional approach is known as 'top down', whereby you start with a larger material and slowly process it by removing matter and leaving behind nanoscale features.

The new paradigm, which is known as 'bottom up', is the hot new topic of research these days.  It was only with nanotechnology that the whole concept of a bottom up approach was even possible.  The idea is to begin with constituent materials (often in gaseous or liquid form) and then by invoking chemical, electrical, or physical forces it is possible to build a nanomaterial atom by atom or molecule by molecule.  This represents an unheard-of level of customizability in materials synthesis.  Of course, the bottom up approach isn't perfect right now.  Controlling an atomistic process isn't as easy as it may sound.  Right now, such synthesis routes can only produce simple structures that we'll discuss shortly.

Right now, synthesis is the be all and end all of nanotechnology.  Scientists and engineers (but mainly chemists) are working around the clock to define reliable, reproducible synthesis methods.  Until our understanding of synthesis is complete, we won't be able to move on to things like engineering and device integration, nor will we ever reach a point of mass production.

Things are moving steadily in the right direction despite the obstacles we face in this challenging field.  Our current state of knowledge can be likened to the world just before electronics came to fruition with the solid-state transistor.  It may be only a few years before you start seeing great things.