Help:Contents
From Professor Kriehn
Contents |
Abstract
Nanotechnology is a relatively “old” idea that is being developed to meet contemporary needs. Since the application for such a technology is so broad, many fields are exploiting the uses of nanotechnology for the future. As this technology is being developed, researched and refined, new uses will become available in the future.
Introduction
Everything changes as time progresses. Relative to size, electronics and emerging technology in general has been leaning towards getting smaller and smaller. The emphasis is on portability (the smaller it is, the easier it is to carry around), efficiency (the smaller a component, the more space you have) and cost (the less material required to make something, the cheaper it becomes). With this trend of minimizing space usage and maximizing efficiency and portability, we introduce nanotechnology. Nanotechnology is the science and technology behind the manipulation and engineering of functional systems at the atomic and molecular scales [1].
Background
To give an idea of what nanotechnology is, we can define the parameters in which nanotechnologists operate at. Nanotechnology typically deals with devices, structures or machines at the 100 nanometer or smaller range [2]. A nano of something, indicates a billionth of something, as the word “nano” in Greek translates to “dwarf” [4]. So a nanometer is 1 billionth of a meter (10-9 meters). Unlike many other technologies, nanotechnology builds from the ground up, that is nanotechnology works with each individual molecular and atomic structure in order to make a whole device or machine [3]. It is theoretically possible to make any material or item by manipulating one atom at a time. If we think of current macro manufacturing, we can see that items are manufactured using other items that have already been made and have been assembled from various materials. Nanotechnology would actually allow us to take an atom or molecule and arrange it in such a way that we can change the material. As in we may change and arrange a few atoms around in a diamond to produce a lump of coal (though it would probably be more preferential the other way around), or we make take some atoms from sand, water, and air to make another material completely [5]. The point is that using nanotechnology, we will be able to arrange and manipulate the structure and position of atoms in order to create different structures and machines. If we were to compare a nanostructure with a human hair, the human hair would be roughly 800 times larger, as a typical human hair is about 80,000 nm wide [4]. The little “pits” on compact discs that store information typically have a width of 500 nm and a depth of 100 nm. The size range at which nanotechnology focuses on is between 1 nm to 100 nm. This region is effectively called the nanoscale [2]. At such minute levels, the properties of materials change. We will not be able to compare the mechanics of a nanomachine to its macro counter part as atomic and molecular properties at such levels are not similar to the properties we see in large machines. Below is a figure to give an idea of the scale of nanotechnology.
