NanoTECHNOLOGY primarily deals with synthesis, characterization, exploration, and exploitation
of nanostructured materials. These materials are characterized by at least one
dimension in the nanometer range. A nanometer (nm) is one billionth of a meter, or 10–9
m. One nanometer is approximately the length equivalent to 10 hydrogen or 5 silicon
atoms aligned in a line.
The processing, structure and properties of materials with grain size in the tens to
several hundreds of nanometer range are research areas of considerable interest over the
past years. A revolution in materials science and engineering is taking place as
researchers find ways to pattern and characterize materials at the nanometer length
scale. New materials with outstanding electrical, optical, magnetic and mechanical
properties are rapidly being developed for use in information technology, bioengineering,
and energy and environmental applications