Nanoscience is concerned with materials
and systems whose structures and components exhibit novel and significantly
improved physical, chemical and biological properties, phenomena and processes
because of their small nanoscale size. Structural features in the range of
about 10 Å to 1000 Å determine important changes as compared to the behavior of
isolated molecules (10Å) or of bulk materials (>0.1 µm). Nanoscience aims to
understand the novel properties and phenomena of nano-based
entities.
Reducing the dimensions of structures
leads to entities with novel properties, such as carbon nanotubes,
quantum wires and dots, thin films, DNA based structures, and laser emitters.
Such new forms of materials and devices herald a revolutionary age for science
and technology provided that we can discover and fully utilize the underlying
principles.
New behavior at the nanoscale is not
necessarily predictable from that observed at large size scales. Important
changes in behavior are caused not by the order of magnitude size reduction,
but also by new phenomena such as size confinement, predominance of interfacial
phenomena, quantum mechanics and Coulomb blockade. It is notable that all
relevant phenomena at the nanoscale are caused by the tiny size of the
organized structure as compared to molecular scale, and by the interactions at
their predominant and complex interfaces.
Once we are able to control feature size,
we can enhance material properties and device functions beyond those that we
currently know or even imagine.
Nanotechnology aims to gain control of
structures and devices at the atomic, molecular and supramolecular levels, and
as we learn how to efficiently manufacture and use these devices.