Nanotechnology
The Opensource Handbook of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology and nanoscience is about controlling and understanding matter on the sub-micrometer and atomic scale.
This wikibook on nanoscience and nanotechnology gathers information about the various tools, methods and systems to provide students, researchers and everyone else an open-source handbook and overview guide to this vast interdisciplinary and expanding field - a book that can be adjusted as new things appear and improved by you!
- Latest major additions in: Health effects of nanoparticles, Environmental Impact, and Nanotechnology Demonstration Experiments
- Sections Nano & Society, nanooptics and electron beam lithography are in preparation.
Why is nanotechnology such a 'hot' subject - and is it more hype than substance? This part gives a brief introduction to the visions of nanotechnology and why so many people are working on it around the world. To help set a perspective there are overview tables with timelines, length scales and information resources.
Microscopes allow us to probe the structure of matter with high spatial resolution, making it possible to see for instance individual atoms with tools such as the scanning tunneling microscope, the atomic force microscope, and the transmission electron microscope. With the related spectroscopic methods, we can study the energy levels in nanosystems. This part gives an overview of the tools and methods used in microscopy and spectroscopy of nanostructures.
On the nanoscale force that we in everyday life do not consider strong, such as contact adhesion, become much more important. In addition, many things behave in a quantum mechanical way. This chapter looks into the scaling of the forces and fundamental dynamics of matter on the nanoscale.
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Many unique nanostructured materials have been made, such as carbon nanotubes that can be mechanically stronger than diamond. This part provides an overview of nanoscale materials such as carbon nanotubes, nanowires, quantum dots and nanoparticles, their unique properties and fabrication methods.
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To understand the novel possibilities in nanotechnology, this part gives an overview of some typical nanoscale systems - simple experimental devices that show unique nanoscale behavior useful in for instance electronics.
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Combining nanodevices into functional units for real life application is a daunting task because making controlled structures with molecularly sized components requires extreme precision and control. Here we look at ways to assemble nanosystems into functional units or working devices with top-down or bottom-up approaches.
See also the Wikibook on Microtechnology which contains information about many fabrication and processing details.
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Your body is based on a fantastic amount of biological nanotechnology operating right now in each of your body's cells, which has evolved over aeons to an awesome level of complexity. Much of current nanotechnology research is aimed at bio-applications, such as bio-sensors and biologically active nanoparticles for medical therapy or targeting cancer. This part is an introduction to this cross-disciplinary field.
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People are very enthusiastic about the visions of nanotechnology, but at the same time there is a natural worry about the environmental issues of the emerging technologies. This area is being increasingly brought into focus to ensure a healthy development.
Chapter 10: Reference Materials
