Skip to main content

Small Wonders, Endless Frontiers A Review of the National Nanotechnology Initiative (2002) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:

1. The Importance of Nanoscale Science and Technology
Pages 4-10

The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.


From page 4...
... Nanostructured materials are in wide use in information technology, integrated into complex products such as the hard disk drives that i
Read the entire page →
From page 5...
... s - 4" ~ At ~ oo - ~ a)
Read the entire page →
From page 6...
... store information and the silicon integrated circuit chips that process information in every Internet server and personal computer. The manufacture of silicon transistors already requires the controlled deposition of layered structures just a few atoms thick (about 1 nanometer)
Read the entire page →
From page 7...
... By taking increasing advantage of these key tools of nanotechnology, it may be possible to put a cap on the amount of lithographic information required to specify a complex system, and thus a cap on the exponentially rising cost of semiconductor manufacturing tools. Thus, nanotechnology is probably the future of information processing, whether that processing is based on a nanoscale silicon transistor manufactured to tolerances partially determined by processes of chemical self-assembly or on one or more of the new molecular devices now emerging from the laboratory.
Read the entire page →
From page 8...
... Use of nanoscale particles and coatings is also being pursued for drug delivery systems to achieve improved timed release of the active ingredients or delivery to specific organs or cell types. As mentioned above, information technology has been, and will continue to be, one of the prime beneficiaries of advances in nanoscale science and technology.
Read the entire page →
From page 9...
... They would allow many of the new and promising nanostructures, such as carbon nanotubes, organic molecular electronic components, and quantum dots, to be rapidly assembled into more complex circuitry to form useful logic and memory devices. Such new devices would have computational performance characteristics and data storage capacities many orders of magnitude higher than present devices and would come in even smaller packages.
Read the entire page →
From page 10...
... New techniques for manufacturSMALL WONDERS, ENDLESS FRONTIERS ing massively parallel and fault-tolerant devices will have to be invented. Since nanoscale technology spans a much broader range of scientific disciplines and potential applications than does solid state electronics, its societal impact may be many times greater than that of the microelectronics and computing revolution.
Read the entire page →

Key Terms

  • silicon transistor
  • quantum dots
  • nanoscale components
  • carbon nanotubes
  • potential applications

  • disk drives
  • integrated circuit
  • hard disk
  • information processing
  • nanoscale titanium

  • data storage
  • semiconductor industry
  • titanium dioxide
  • fundamental physical
  • physical limits

  • nanoscale technology
  • nanotechnology initiative
  • storage density
  • national nanotechnology
  • atoms thick

  • layered structures
  • nanoscale materials
  • quantum computers
  • screening tool
  • nanostructured materials

  • solid state
  • ibm announced
  • continuing impact
  • attract biorganisms
  • computerized design


    • This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
    More information on Chapter Skim is available.