THE MEANING OF NANOTECHNOLOGY:

Nanotechnology can best be considered as a 'catch-all' description of activities at the level of atoms and molecules that have applications in the real world. Nanotechnology involves the use of man-made materials so small; they are measured on the scale of a nanometer. The word "Nano" is derived from the Greek word; Dwarf. A nanometer is a billionth of a meter, that is, about 1/80,000 of the diameter of a human hair, or 10 times the diameter of a hydrogen atom. Nanotechnology has several meanings as it encompasses many fields.

Nanotechnology derives its name from the nanometer, (10-9 Meter or a billionth of a meter) & refers to the manipulation of matter at the atomic & molecular level. The ideas behind it are simple ones. Every substance on earth is made up of molecules composed of one or more atoms (the smallest particle of element); to describe the molecule that constitute a physical object & how they inter-relate is to say nearly everything important about the object. It follows, that if you can manipulate individual atoms & molecules & put them together in certain configuration, you should be able to create just about anything you desire.

Nanotechnology, more descriptively known as molecular manufacturing, involves the design, modeling, fabrication and manipulation of materials and devices at the atomic scale. It necessitates thorough spatial control of matter at the level of molecules and atoms, with capabilities to process and rearrange them into custom designs. Nanotechnology differs from traditional chemical manufacturing in that the chemical reactions are not left to statistical movements of molecules in solutions, but instead the molecules are brought into appropriate positions with appropriate speeds and orientations to cause desired reactions. Nanotechnology also differs fundamentally from micro-manufacturing of silicon chips in that the top-down approach and repeated refinement of bulk materials (e.g. etching silicon) into micro or even Nano-scale designs suffers from defects inherent in the original bulk material. In contrast, nanotechnology's bottom-up.