The science of developing materials at the atomic and molecular level in order to imbue them with special electrical and chemical properties. Nanotechnology, which deals with devices typically less than 100 nanometers in size, is making a significant contribution to computers, biotechnology, manufacturing and energy.
Semiconductor chips are perhaps the most widely known application of nanotechnology as feature sizes of the transistor have shrunk over the decades from more than 30,000 nanometers to less than 20 today (see
chip feature size).
In the future, amazing nanotech-based products are expected, including building materials that withstand earthquakes, advanced systems for drug delivery and custom-tailored pharmaceuticals as well as the elimination of invasive surgery, because repairs can be made from within the body.
One Person Can Make a Breakthrough
Nanosys CEO Larry Bock, who helped launch more than a dozen successful biotech companies in his career, said nanotech will impact more industries than biotech. In an excerpted article from the March 2003 Nanotech Report comparing nanotechnology with microelectronics, Bock said "a single chemistry graduate can create devices not even imaginable by today's biggest microprocessor companies. That is because these devices are fabricated chemically from the bottom up. Microelectronics is fabricated by etching wafers from the top down." See
AFM,
STM,
Buckyball,
nanotube and
MEMS.