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Nanotechnology and other related disciples! Nanotechnology comprises any technological developments on the nanometer scale, usually 0.1-100nm. (One nanometer equals one thousandth of a micrometer or one millionth of a millimeter.) The term sometimes applies to any microscopic technology.
The size scale of nanotechnology yields to quantum-based phenomena, which yields often counterintuitive results. These nanoscale phenomena include quantum size effects and molecular forces such as van der Waals forces. Furthermore, the vastly increased ratio of surface area to volume opens new possibilites in surface-based science, such as catalysis.
The device density of modern computer compoents (i.e. the number of transistors per unit area) continues to grow exponentially, but fundamental electronic limitations prevent the trend of Moore's law to continue. Current estimates predict ten to fifteen years of continued improvement before economic costs grow exponentially. Nanotechnology is seen as the next logical step for continued advances in computational architecture.
The term nanotechnology is often used interchangeably with molecular nanotechnology (also known as "MNT"), a hypothetical advanced form of nanotechnology that is believed will be developed far into the future, although estimates vary. The term nanoscience is used to describe the interdicplinary field of science devoted to the advancement of nanotechnology.
Carbon nanotubes are cylindrical
carbon molecules with novel properties that make them potentially useful
in a wide variety of applications (e.g., nano-electronics, optics,
materials applications, etc.). They exhibit extraordinary strength and
unique electrical properties, and are efficient conductors of heat.
Inorganic nanotubes have also been synthesized.
A nanotube (also known as a buckytube) is a member of the fullerene
structural family, which also includes buckyballs. Whereas buckyballs
are spherical in shape, a nanotube is cylindrical, with at least one end
typically capped with a hemisphere of the buckyball structure. Their
name is derived from their size, since the diameter of a nanotube is on
the order of a few nanometers (approximately 50,000 times smaller than
the width of a human hair), while they can be up to several centimeters
in length. There are two main types of nanotubes: single-walled
nanotubes (SWNTs) and multi-walled nanotubes (MWNTs).
Nanotubes are composed entirely
of sp˛ bonds, similar to graphite. Stronger than the spł bonds found in
diamond, this bonding structure provides them with their unique
strength. Nanotubes naturally align themselves into "ropes" held
together by Van der Waals forces. Under high pressure, nanotubes can
merge together, trading some sp˛ bonds for spł bonds, giving great
possibility for producing strong, unlimited-length wires through
high-pressure nanotube linking.
While it has long been known that carbon fibers can be produced with a
carbon arc, and patents were issued for the process, it was not until
1991 that Sumio Iijima, a researcher with the NEC Laboratory in Tsukuba,
Japan, observed that these fibers were hollow. This feature of nanotubes
is of great interest to physicists because it permits experiments in
one-dimensional quantum physics.