1.Nanotechnology is defined as fabrication of devices with atomic or molecular scale precision.
2.Devices with minimum feature sizes less than 100 nanometers (nm) are considered to be products of nanotechnology.
3. A nanometer is one billionth of a meter (10-9 m) and is the unit of length that is generally most appropriate for describing the size of single molecules.
4.The first revolutionary applications of nanotechnology will be in computer science and medicine.
Nanotechnology in IT Field
1.A branch of computer science that is allowing rapid progress to be made in nanotechnology is the computer simulation of molecular scale events.
2. Molecular simulation is able to provide and predict data about molecular systems that would normally require enormous effort to obtain physically.
3.By organizing virtual atoms in a molecular simulation environment, one can effectively model nano-scale systems.
4.For nano-scale systems, simulations and theory in fact have provided novel properties that has led to new designs, materials and systems for nanotechnology applications.
EXAMPLE:carbon nano-tubes applications in molecular electronics
Nanotechnology in Medical Field
Molecular medicine, bioinformatics and bio-molecular nanotechnology are rapidly increasing our ability to heal and stay healthy.
BIOTECHNOLOGY:
1. All living organisms are composed of molecules, molecular biology has become the primary focus of biotechnology.
2.Living systems are able to live because of the vast amount of highly ordered molecular machinery from which they are built.
3.The central dogma of molecular biology states that the information required to build a living cell or organism is stored in the DNA.
4.This information is transferred from the DNA to the proteins by the processes called transcription and translation.
5.Molecular biology is a field in which the study of these interactions has led to the discovery of numerous pharmaceuticals that have been enormously effective in curing disease.
ROLE OF NANO-TECH:
1.First of all it shows the abilities of molecular scale machinery. Copying, borrowing and learning tricks from nature is one of the primary techniques used by nanotechnology and has been termed biomimetics.
2. Secondly, our ability to design synthetic, semi-synthetic and natural molecular machinery gives us an enormous potential for curing disease and preserving life.
Nanotechnology in Robotics
NANO-ROBOTS:
Nano-robots are theoretical microscopic devices measured on the scale of nanometers.
Nano-medicine:
1.Nano-robots are so tiny that they can easily traverse the human body. Scientists report the exterior of a nano-robot will likely be constructed of carbon atoms in a diamondoid structure because of its inert properties and strength.
2.Glucose or natural body sugars and oxygen might be a source for propulsion, and the nano-robot will have other biochemical or molecular parts depending on its task.
3.Nano-robots will possess at least rudimentary two-way communication; will respond to acoustic signals; and will be able to receive power or
even re-programming instructions from an external source via sound waves.
4.A network of special stationary nano-robots might be strategically positioned throughout the body, logging each active nano-robot as it passes, then reporting those results, allowing an interface to keep track of all of the devices in the body.
5. A doctor could not only monitor a patient’s progress but change the instructions of the nanorobots in vivo to progress to another stage of healing. When the task is completed, the nano-robots would be flushed from the body.
RECENT DEVELOPMENT Molecular nanotechnology (MNT).
1.Robert A. Freitas Jr., nano-medicine, envisions nano-robots manufactured in nano-factories is an example of one type of medical nano-robot he has designed that would act as a red blood cell.
2.The entire nano-robot which Freitas dubbed a respirocyte, consists of 18-billion atoms and can hold up to 9-billion O2 and CO2 molecules, or just over 235 times the capacity of a human red blood cell.
3.This increased capacity is made possible because of the diamond structure supports greater pressures than a human cell.
4.Sensors on the nano-robot would trigger the molecular rotors to either release gasses, or collect them, depending on the needs of the surrounding tissues.
5. A healthy dose of these nano-robots injected into a patient in solution, Freitas explains, would allow someone to comfortably sit underwater near the drain of the backyard pool for nearly four hours, or run at full speed for 15 minutes before taking a breath.
ADVANTAGE:-
1.Raw material for making the nano-robots would be nearly cost-free, and the process virtually pollution-free, making nano-robots an extremely affordable and highly attractive technology.
2.nano-robots applied to medicine hold a wealth of promise from eradicating disease to reversing the aging process (wrinkles, loss of bone mass and age-related conditions are all treatable at the cellular level.
3.In great swarms they might clean the air of carbon dioxide, repair the hole in the ozone, scrub the water of pollutants, and restore our ecosystems.
Nanotechnology in Electronics
1.As transistors such as the Metal-Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor (MOSFET ) one of the primary components used in integrated circuits) is made smaller, both its properties and manufacturing expense change with the scale.
2.Currently, Ultraviolet light is used to create the silicon circuits with a lateral resolution around 200 nm (the wavelength of ultraviolet light).
3.As the circuits shrink below 100 nm new fabrication methods must be created, resulting in increasing costs.
4.Furthermore, once the circuit size reaches only a few nanometers, quantum effects such as tunneling begin to become important, which drastically changes the ability for the computers to function normally.
5. Thus, novel methods for computer chip fabrication have been and are being intensely sought by microchip manufactures.
Nano Mirrors
1.The objective is to quantify aerial image in terms of important parameters such as normalized image log slope, contrast, and spots/min feature size, to come up with the most robust method of gray-scaled pattern generation using analog modulation of micro-mirrors.
Nano-springs (Belts)
1.The objective is to quantify aerial image in terms of important parameters such as normalized image log slope, contrast, and spots/min feature size, to come up with the most robust method of gray-scaled pattern generation using analog modulation of micro-mirrors.
Nano-tubes & Nano-bearings
1.This is a computer-rendered model of a partially telescoped nano-tube with a Leonardo DaVinci manuscript as the background.
2.In the manuscript, DaVinci considers the construction of bearings, and also the frictional forces that might be encountered in bearings and sliding surfaces.
3. He also has a drawing of a constant force spring (a mass hanging from a cord over a pulley).
4. A nano-tube bearing may be the ultimate realization of some of DaVinci's dreams:
Here is the same model without the DaVinci manuscript in the background
NANO-MOTOR
1. The small Nano-motor is half the size of a match stick.
2.It can lift six times of its own mass. The dynamic force of this Nano-motor is so high that even imprints in diamond surfaces can be produced.
3.Special versions of the Nano-motor can operate in ultra high vacuum, in liquid helium, even under water or as non-magnetic drives.