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Nanotechnology: A Chemist's Perspective

Nano' has been in fashion for a while now. Apple named their iPod Nano for a reason to imply how small it is. But does the general public know what nano' and nanotechnology is? Some of my non-science friends affiliate nanotechnology with computers. Given the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physics for "relates to iPods," nano' may be synonymous with iPods as well. But what is it, how do we define it and what can we use it for?

Nanotechnology is much more than the technology behind an iPod or computer component. Explaining its complexity and diversity is a daunting task. Nanotechnology is the study of molecular science on the nanometer scale, a billionth of one meter. At this scale, nanotechnology is based on isolated or synthesized components from man-made inorganic' materials, the materials used in computer chips, or live organic' materials, cellular components, DNA and proteins. The term nanotechnology was coined in 1974 by Norio Taniguchi to describe how atoms and molecules are deposited in very thin layers in the semiconductor industry. In particular, he refers to the manipulation of a single atom or one molecule. However, the initial ideals of nanotechnology were described in 1959 by Richard Feynman, a physicist. , His famous talk "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom" was revolutionary and predictive of what was to come. Another founding father of nanotechnology is K. Eric Drexler. He described self assembly and molecular motors in 1981, protein nanobots that would do the work for us. , In these articles he describes biological analogies of technology functions at the molecular level.

Interdisciplinary Nature and New Technology: Microscopy

Nanotechnology draws on several distinct scientific fields: material science, engineering, physics and chemistry, to name a few. Even a new field of nano ethics has emerged as a result of the explosion of this new field. The interdisciplinary nature has acted as a catalyst for the explosion of new discoveries. Advances in technology have also fueled discoveries. Microscopy is one advance with a huge impact. The first prototype electron microscope was built in 1931. We would never see the nanoworld without it. We all know what a microscope is. Microscopy is similar to using a microscope but electrons, a scanning probe or light are used to create images. New technologies such as the scanning electron microscope (SEM) and work on surfaces in vacuums have revealed the movement of atoms on surfaces.

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