Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Portal:Nanotechnology

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Welcome to the nanotechnology portal

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Nanotechnology is the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally, nanotechnology deals with developing materials, devices, or other structures possessing at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometers.
Nanotechnology is very diverse, including extensions of conventional device physics, new approaches based on molecular self-assembly, developing new materials with nanoscale dimensions, and investigating whether we can directly control matter on the atomic scale. Nanotechnology entails the application of fields as diverse as surface science, organic chemistry, molecular biology, semiconductor physics, microfabrication, etc.
There is much debate on the future implications of nanotechnology. Nanotechnology may be able to create many new materials and devices with a vast range of applications, such as in medicine, electronics, biomaterials and energy production. On the other hand, nanotechnology raises many of the same issues as any new technology, including concerns about the toxicity and environmental impact of nanomaterials, and their potential effects on global economics, as well as speculation about various doomsday scenarios.

Learn more about Nanotechnology...

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Molecular scale electronics
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Molecular scale electronics, also called single molecule electronics, is a branch of nanotechnology that uses single molecules, or nanoscale collections of single molecules, as electronic components. Because single molecules constitute the smallest stable structures imaginable this miniaturization is the ultimate goal for shrinking electrical circuits. The performance and complexity of conventional integrated circuits have been growing exponentially (a trend also known as Moore’s law) and has forced the feature sizes of the embedded components to shrink accordingly.
In single molecule electronics, the bulk material is replaced by single molecules. The molecules utilized have properties that resemble traditional electronic components such as a wire, transistor or rectifier. Single molecule electronics is an emerging field, and entire electronic circuits consisting exclusively of molecular sized compounds are still very far from being realized. However, the continuous demand for more computing power together with the inherent limitations of the present day lithographic methods make the transition seem unavoidable. Currently, the focus is on discovering molecules with interesting properties and on finding ways to obtaining reliable and reproducible contacts between the molecular components and the bulk material of the electrodes.

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DNA nanotechnology
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Atomic force micrograph of a two-dimensional DX DNA array on a mica surface, of the type used in DNA nanotechnology. Individual DX molecules are visible within the array. The field width is 150 nm.
Credit: User:Antony-22

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Angela Belcher
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Angela M. Belcher is an American materials scientist and biological engineer who won the 2010 NBIC Award for Research Excellence in Nanotechnology. She is known for her use of nanostructured inorganic materials, fabricated and shaped by biological molecules to create novel materials and processes for a variety of industries, including using genetically-modified viruses to build both anode and cathode of a lithium-ion battery.