Nanotechnology will grow in importance to scientists and engineers as the ongoing technological revolution leads to further miniaturization of engineering components and devices. This area of research and technology development focuses on characteristics of components that are approximately 100 nanometers or less. To put this length scale in perspective, the thickness of a human hair is approximately seventy microns, so at maximum the critical dimension of these micro/nanostructures would measure approximately one-seventieth the thickness of a hair and at minimum may consist of fewer than ten layers of atoms. Conventional macroscopic analysis may be inapplicable for nanostructures because the size of the engineering component is of the same order of magnitude as a characteristic length scale. Consequently, micro/nanoscale theories, of which there is presently only a limited understanding, must be considered. Many industries and applications will benefit from future research developments and discoveries made in the area of nanotechnology.
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NANOPEDIA provides overviews, a balanced analysis of the latest news in nanotechnology and course resources as well as an underlying comprehensive, searchable encyclopedia of nanotechnology ... Learn More |
