Handbook of nanoscience, engineering, and technology Goddard W.A.

Goddard W.A.
ISBN: 0-8493-1200-0
Год: 2003
Издательство: CRC Press LLC
Количество страниц: 709
Язык: Английский
Формат: PDF / RAR

Формат файла: RAR

In the now-famous talk given in 1959, "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom," Nobel Prize laureate Richard Feynman outlined the promise of nanotechnology. It took over two decades, but the development of the scanning tunneling microscope by IBM researchers in the early 1980s gave scientists and engineers the ability not only to image atoms but also to manipulate atoms and clusters with a precision equal to that of a chemical bond. Also in the 1980s, Eric Drexler wrote several books that went beyond Feynman's vision to outline a fantastic technology that includes pumps, gears, and molecular assemblers consisting of only hundreds to thousands of atoms that, if built, promised to revolutionize almost every aspect of human endeavor. While Drexler's vision continues to stir controversy and skepticism in the science community, it has served to inspire a curious young generation to pursue what is perceived as the next frontier of technological innovation. Fueled by breakthroughs such as in the production and characterization of fullerene nanotubes, self-assembled monolayers, and quantum dots — together with advances in theory and modeling and concerted funding from the National Nanotechnology Initiative in the U.S. and similar programs in other countries — the promise of nanotechnology is beginning to come true. Will nanotechnology revolutionize the human condition? Only time will tell. Clearly, though, this is an exciting era in which to be involved in science and engineering at the nanometer scale.
Research at the nanometer scale and the new technologies being developed from this research are evolving much too rapidly for a book like this to provide a complete picture of the field. Many journals such as Nature, Science, and Physical Review Letters report critical breakthroughs in nanometer-scale science and technology almost weekly. Instead, the intent of this handbook is to provide a wide-angle snapshot of the state of the field today, including basic concepts, current challenges, and advanced research results, as well as a glimpse of the many breakthroughs that will assuredly come in the next decade and beyond. Specifically, visionary research and developments in nanoscale and molecular electronics, biotechnology, carbon nanotubes, and nanocomputers are reported. This handbook is intended for a wide audience, with chapters that can be understood by laymen and educate and challenge seasoned researchers. A major goal of this handbook is to further develop and promote nanotechnology by expanding its horizon to new and exciting areas and fields in engineering, science, medicine, and technology.