NANOTECHNOLOGY A DEEP INSIGHT

Nanotechnology, development and production of artefacts in which a dimension of less than 100 nanometres (nm) is critical to functioning (1 nm = 10-9 m/40 billionths of an inch). Nanotechnology is a hybrid science combining engineering and chemistry. Atoms and molecules stick together because they have complementary shapes that lock tog- ether, or charges that attract. As millions of these atoms are pieced together by nanomachines, a specific product will begin to take shape. The goal of nanotechnology is to manipulate atoms individually and place them in a pattern to produce a desired structure. Nanotechnology is likely to change the way almost everything, including medicine, computers and cars, are designed and constructed. Nanotechnology holds out the promise of materials of precisely specified composition and properties, which could yield structures of unprecedented strength and computers of extraordinary compactness and power. Nanotechnology may lead to revolutionary methods of atom-by-atom manufacturing and to surgery on the cellular scale. Scientists have made some progress at building devices, including computer components, at nanoscales. Nanotechnology is anywhere from five to 15 years in the future.