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Introduction to Nanotechnology System

Technical Report · August 2020

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.12770.15049/1

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1. Nanotechnology System

1.1. Introduction to Nanotechnology System

Nanotechnology is a term that is used to describe the science and technology related to the
control and manipulation of matter and devices on a scale less than 100 nm in dimension. It
involves a multidisciplinary approach involving fields such as applied physics, materials
science, chemistry, biology, surface science, robotics, engineering, electrical engineering and
biomedical engineering. At this scale the properties of matter is dictated and there are few
boundaries between scientific disciplines. Nanotechnology (sometimes shortened to
"nanotech") is the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally,
nanotechnology deals with developing materials, devices, or other structures with at least one
dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometres. Quantum mechanical effects are important at this
quantum-realm scale. Nanotechnology is considered a key technology for the future.
Consequently, various governments have invested billions of dollars in its future. The USA
has invested 3.7 billion dollars through its National Nanotechnology Initiative followed by
Japan with 750 million and the European Union 1.2 billion. Nanotechnology is very diverse,
ranging from extensions of conventional device physics to completely new approaches based
upon molecular self-assembly, from developing new materials with dimensions on the
nanoscale to direct control of matter on the atomic scale. Nanotechnology entails the
application of fields of science as diverse as surface science, organic chemistry, molecular
biology, semiconductor physics, micro fabrication, etc. Scientists debate the future
implications of nanotechnology. Nanotechnology may be able to create many new materials
and devices with a vast range of applications, such as in medicine, electronics, biomaterials
and energy production. On the other hand, nanotechnology raises many of the same issues as
any new technology, including concerns about the toxicity and environmental impact of
nanomaterial [1] and their potential effects on global economics, as well as speculation about
various doomsday scenarios. These concerns have led to a debate among advocacy groups
and governments on whether special regulation of nanotechnology is warranted

1.2. Origin of Nanotechnology

Although nanotechnology has been around since the beginning of time, the discovery of
nanotechnology has been attributed to Richard Feynman1 who presented a paper called
‘There is Plenty of Room at the Bottom’ on 29 December 1959 at the annual meeting of the
American Physical Society. Feynman talked about the storage of information on a very small
scale, writing and reading in atoms, about miniaturization of the computer, building tiny
machines, tiny factories and electronic circuits with atoms. He stated that ‘In the year 2000,
when they look back at this age, they will wonder why it was not until the year 1960 that
anybody began seriously to move in this direction’. However, he did not specifically use the
term ‘nanotechnology’. The first use of the term ‘nanotechnology’ has been attributed to
Norio Taniguchi2 in a paper published in 1974 “On the Basic Concept of ‘’Nanotechnology”.
Since then several definitions3 of nanotechnology have evolved. For example, the dictionary

Nanosystems Page 1
definition states that nanotechnology is ‘the art of manipulating materials on an atomic or
molecular scale especially to build microscopic devices’. Other definitions include the US
government which state that ‘Nanotechnology is research and technology development at the
atomic, molecular or macromolecular level in the level in the length scale of approximately 1-
100 nm range, to provide a fundamental understanding of phenomena and materials at the
nanoscale and to create and use structures, devices and systems that have novel properties
and functions because of their small and/or intermediate size’. The Japanese have come up
with a more focused and succinct definition for ‘True Nano’ as nanotechnology which is
expected to cause scientific or technology quantum jumps, or to provide great industrial
applications by using phenomena and characteristics peculiar in nano-level. Regardless of the
definition that is used, it is evident that the properties of matter are controlled at a scale
between 1 and 100 nm. Although nanotechnology is a relatively recent development in
scientific research, the development of its central concepts happened over a longer period of
time. The emergence of nanotechnology in the 1980s was caused by the convergence of
experimental advances such as the invention of the scanning tunnelling microscope in 1981
and the discovery of fullerenes in 1985, with the elucidation and popularization of a
conceptual framework for the goals of nanotechnology beginning with the 1986 publication
of the book Engines of Creation.

[Link] C60,

This is also known as the buck ball, is a representative member of the carbon structures
known as fullerenes. Members of the fullerene family are a major subject of research
falling under the nanotechnology umbrella.

The scanning tunnelling microscope, an instrument for imaging surfaces at the atomic level,
was developed in 1981 by Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer at IBM Zurich Research
Laboratory, for which they received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1986 [2] Fullerenes were
discovered in 1985 by Harry Kroto, Richard Smalley, and Robert Curl, who together won the
1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry [3. 4] Around the same time, K. Eric Drexler developed and
popularized the concept of nanotechnology and founded the field of molecular
nanotechnology. In 1979, Drexler encountered Richard Feynman's 1959 talk "There's Plenty
of Room at the Bottom". The term "nanotechnology", originally coined by Norio Taniguchi
in 1974, was unknowingly appropriated by Drexler in his 1986 book Engines of Creation:
The Coming Era of Nanotechnology, which proposed the idea of a nanoscale "assembler"
which would be able to build a copy of itself and of other items of arbitrary complexity. He
also first published the term "grey goo" to describe what might happen if a hypothetical self-
replicating molecular nanotechnology went out of control. Drexler's vision of nanotechnology
is often called "Molecular Nanotechnology" (MNT) or "molecular manufacturing," and
Drexler at one point proposed the term "zettatech" which never became popular. In the early
2000s, the field was subject to growing public awareness and controversy, with prominent
debates about both its potential implications, exemplified by the Royal Society's report on
nanotechnology, [5] as well as the feasibility of the applications envisioned by advocates of

Nanosystems Page 2
molecular nanotechnology, which culminated in the public debate between Eric Drexler and
Richard Smalley in 2001 and 2003. [6] Governments moved to promote and fund research
into nanotechnology with programs such as the National Nanotechnology Initiative. The early
2000s also saw the beginnings of commercial applications of nanotechnology, although these
were limited to bulk applications of nanomaterial, such as the Silver Nano platform for using
silver nanoparticles as an antibacterial agent, nanoparticle-based transparent sunscreens, and
carbon nanotubes for stain-resistant textiles [7].

1.3. Approaches to Nanotechnology

Numerous approaches have been utilized successfully in nanotechnology, and as the
technology develops further approaches may emerge. The approaches employed thus far have
generally been dictated by the technology available and the background experience of the
researchers involved. Nanotechnology is a truly multidisciplinary field4 involving chemistry,
physics, biology, engineering, electronics, social science, etc., which need to be integrated
together in order to generate the next level of development.

Figure [Link] nature of nanotechnology

Fuel cells, mechanically stronger materials, nanobiological devices, molecular electronics,

quantum devices, carbon nanotubes, etc. have been made using nanotechnology. Even social
scientists are debating ethical use of nanotechnology.

The two main approaches to explaining nanotechnology to the general public have been
oversimplified and have become known as the ‘top-down’ approach and the ‘bottom-up’
approach.

1.3.1. Top-down approaches

These seek to create smaller devices by using larger ones to direct their assembly.

Nanosystems Page 3
• Many technologies that descended from conventional solid-state silicon methods for
fabricating microprocessors are now capable of creating features smaller than 100 nm,
falling under the definition of nanotechnology. Giant magneto resistance-based hard
drives already on the market fit this description, as do atomic layer deposition (ALD)
techniques. Peter Grünberg and Albert Fert received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2007
for their discovery of Giant magneto resistance and contributions to the field of
spintronics.
• Solid-state techniques can also be used to create devices known as nanoelectromechanical
systems or NEMS, which are related to microelectromechanical systems or MEMS.
• Focused ion beams can directly remove material, or even deposit material when suitable
pre-cursor gasses are applied at the same time. For example, this technique is used
routinely to create sub-100 nm sections of material for analysis in Transmission electron
microscopy.
• Atomic force microscope tips can be used as a nanoscale "write head" to deposit a resist,
which is then followed by an etching process to remove material in a top-down method.

The top-down approach involves fabrication of device structures via monolithic processing
on the nanoscale. This approach has been used with spectacular success in the semiconductor
devices used in consumer electronics. The most successful industry utilizing the top-down
approach is the electronics industry

Figure-1.3. Features size evolution in silicon chips

This industry is utilizing techniques involving a range of technologies such as chemical

vapour deposition (CVD). Physical vapour deposition (PVD), lithography (photolithography,
electron beam and X-ray lithography), wet and plasma etching, etc. to generate functional
structures at the micro- and nanoscale

Nanosystems Page 4
Figure-1.4. A typical process sequences employed in the electronics industry to generate
functional devices at the micro and nanoscale.

Evolution and development of these technologies have allowed emergence of the numerous
electronic products and devices that have enhanced the quality of life throughout the world.
The feature sizes have been shrinking continuously from about 75µm to below 100 nm. This
has been achieved by improvements in deposition technology and more importantly due to
the development of lithographic techniques and equipment such as X-ray lithography and
electron beam lithography. Techniques such as electron beam lithography, X-ray lithography
and ion beam lithography, all have advantages in terms of resolution achieved, however,
there are disadvantages associated with cost, optics and detrimental effects on the substrate.
These methods are currently under investigation to improve upon current lithography process
used in the IC industry. With continuous developments in these technologies, it is highly
likely that the transition from micro technology or nanotechnology will generate a whole new
generation of exciting products and features.

Let us take an example of a demonstration of how several techniques can be combined

together to form a ‘nano’ wine glass

[Link] of three dimensional nanostructure fabrications

In this example, a focused ion beam and CVD have employed to produce this striking
nanostructure. The top-down approach is being used to coat various coatings to give
improved functionality. For example, vascular stents are being coated using CVD technology

Nanosystems Page 5
with ultra-thin diamond-like carbon coatings in order to improve biocompatibility and blood
flow.

[Link] of stents coated with diamond-like carbon using plasma enhanced

CVD Graded a-SixCy: H interfacial layers results in greatly reduced cracking and
enhanced adhesion.

1.3.2. Bottom-up approaches

These seek to arrange smaller components into more complex assemblies.

• DNA nanotechnology utilizes the specificity of Watson–Crick base pairing to construct

well-defined structures out of DNA and other nucleic acids.
• Approaches from the field of "classical" chemical synthesis (inorganic and organic
synthesis) also aim at designing molecules with well-defined shape, e.g. bis-peptides [17].
• More generally, molecular self-assembly seeks to use concepts of supramolecular
chemistry, and molecular recognition in particular, to cause single-molecule components
to automatically arrange themselves into some useful conformation.
• Atomic force microscope tips can be used as a nanoscale "write head" to deposit a
chemical upon a surface in a desired pattern in a process called dip pen nanolithography.
This technique fits into the larger subfield of nanolithography.

The bottom-up approach involves the fabrication of device structure via systematic assembly
of atoms, molecules or other basic units of matter. This is the approach nature uses to repair
cells, tissues, organs of living and organ systems in living things, and indeed for life
processes such as protein synthesis. Tools are evolving which will give scientists more
control over the synthesis and characterization of novel nanostructures and yield a range of
new products in the near future. The bottom-up approach involves making nanostructure and
devices by arranging atom by atom. The scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) has been
used to build nano-sized atomic features such as the letters IBM written using xenon atoms
on nickel.

Nanosystems Page 6
 [Link] single atom with an STM

While this is beautiful and exciting, it remains that the experiment was carried out under
carefully controlled conditions, that is liquid helium cooling and high vacuum, and it took
approximately 24 hours to get the letters right. Also the atoms are not bonded to the surface
just adsorbed and a small change in temperature or pressure will dislodge them. Since this
demonstration significant advances have made in nano-manufacturing. The discovery of
STM’s ability to image variations in the density distribution of surface-state electrons created
in the artists a compulsion to have complete control of not only the atomic landscape, but also
the electronic landscape.

[Link]. Atom Manipulation

Single atom manipulation can be achieved with appropriate selection of the charge (polarity),
the magnitude and duration of a voltage pulse applied between the STM tip and the sample
surface, as well as the tip-to-sample separation. By placing a tungsten tip above silicon atoms
and applying voltages of -5.5 V to the surface for 30 ms, silicon atoms can be lifted from the
surface,

Figure-1.8.a) Manipulation of silicon atoms on a surface before removal, and b) after

removal of an atom, Huang D (2001) Artificial atomic surfaces created with STM angle-
atom manipulation, microscopy and analysis. C) IBM advertisement made of xenon
atoms.

Nanosystems Page 7
The method can also be selective. Hydrogen can be removed from hydrogen silicon bonds by
scanning a tip over the surface while applying a continuous potential difference of several
volts, or by applying rapid pulses. The mechanism of extraction in stable and depends on
whether the sample is positively or negatively charged. When the sample is positively
charged the electrons are involved in breaking the bond, since they are transferred. When the
sample is negatively charged a strong electric field is created between the sample and the
surface. This field is great enough to pull the bond apart. Atoms can also be deposited once
they have been lifted. Figure-1.8.b shows a very famous experiment in which atoms were
deposited to spell out the smallest advertisement in the world for IBM using xenon atoms.
The smallest counting device, an abacus, has been made out of xenon atoms. These atoms are
called ad atoms, but molecules can be used as well. Carbon monoxide molecules have been
used to make a pictorial man. Nevertheless, if the moving of atoms or molecules could be
sped up, it could be used as a mechanism for storing numbers. Atoms have also been moved
into a straight line, but probably the most astounding picture is the assembly of iron atoms in
a circle so that the wave pattern of the electrons between them can be observed. The corral
shows the wave nature of the electrons on the metal surface, rather like the concentric rings
you obtain in a cup of tea when you shake it. The wave behaviour of electrons can be
explored in other ways. Scientists have been able to create an atomic mirage. An ellipsoid
bowl has two radii at each end due to two parts of circles that complete its structure. When
water is placed in an ellipsoid bowl and a drip allowed to fall at one of the two centres of
radium, that is, the first focal point, then waves move out to the edge, rebound and refocus at
the second radius – that is, at the second focal point. Thus the drip can be seen to appear at
the second focal point. Thus the drip can be seen to appear at the second radius focal point as
a small crest.

The phenomenon is not unique. It is similar to the way in which light is focused by optical
lenses or mirrors. What is new is that this is also true for electrons. If an ellipse of atoms is
formed and if further atoms are placed at the radius of one ellipse, electrons are added to the
pool. They appear at the second radius focal point, like in the water experiment! In effect
there is a mirage of the atom the size and shape of the elliptical corral determines the energy
and spatial distribution of the confined electrons. These effects are observed because the
corral is of a size that is similar to the de Broglie wavelength of the electron, while the water
analogy above is good, the phenomenon is a quantum one, and hence drawing an analogy
with light (electromagnetic radiation) is a better way of understanding it. The properties of
light are transferred when it is refocused. A property of atoms which relates to their magnetic
moment is a phenomenon called ‘Kondo resonance’.

By positioning a cobalt (Co) atom, at one radius of the ellipse, a strong Kondo signature is
detected at the second radius focus. If we regard the atom as matter rather than
electromagnetic radiation then this begs the question: is it an image or really a ‘reformed’
atom? Atoms are, after all, primarily electron waves and nuclei. Whatever the answer, the
same electronic states in the surface electrons at the mirage are those surrounding the
introduced atom. This is a fundamentally new way of transferring information. It transfers

Nanosystems Page 8
electrons on the atomic scale but uses the wave nature of electrons instead of conventional
wiring and hence has electronic implications.

[Link] of electrons to quantum corrals on a metal surface.

Fig shows 48 iron atoms positioned into a circular ring in order to ‘corral’ some surface-state
electrons and force them into ‘quantum’ states of the circular structure. The ripples in the ring
of atoms are the density distribution of a particular set of quantum states of corral. The artists
were delighted to discover that they could predict what goes on in the corral by solving the
classic eigenvalue problem in quantum mechanics – a particle in hard-wall box. Probably, the
most publicized material in recent years has been carbon nanotubes. Carbon nanotubes long,
thin cylinders of carbon – were discovered in 1991 by S. Iijima. These are large
macromolecules that are unique for their size, shape and remarkable physical properties.
They can be thought of as a sheet of graphite (a hexagonal lattice of carbon) rolled into a
cylinder. These intriguing structures have sparked much excitement in the recent years and
large amount of research has been dedicated to their understanding. Currently, the physical
properties are still being discovered and disputed. What makes it so difficult is that nanotubes
have a very broad range of electronic, thermal and structural properties that change
depending on the different kinds of nanotubes (defined by its diameter, length and chirality,
or twist). To make things more interesting besides having a single cylindrical wall (SWNTs),
nanotubes can have multiple walls (MWNTs) – cylinders inside the order cylinders.

Nanosystems Page 9
 [Link] carbon nanotubes with a diameter of 30nm and a length of
20m have been formed within 2 minutes.

Several researchers have grown vertically aligned carbon nanotubes using a microwave
plasma-enhanced CVD system using a thin-film cobalt catalyst at 8250C. The chamber
pressure used was 20 Torr. The plasma was generated using hydrogen which was replaced
completely with ammonia and acetylene at a total flow rate of 200 sccm.

Note:-Progress in both approaches has been accelerated in recent years with the development
and application of highly sensitive equipment. For example, instrument such as atomic force
microscope (AFM), scanning tunnelling microscope (STM), electron beam lithography,
molecular beam epitaxial, etc., have become available to push forward development in this
exciting new field. These instruments allow observation and manipulation of novel
nanostructures. Considerable research is being carried throughout the world in development
nanotechnology, and many new applications have emerged. However, a related term is
nanomanufacturing, used to describe industrial scale manufacture of nanotechnology-based
objects at high rate, low cost and reliability. Tools, templates and processes are currently
being development that will enable high volume manufacturing of components and structures
on a development of commercial products and enable the creations of a new generation of
applications in various different commercial sectors including drug delivery, cosmetics,
biomedical implants, electronics, and optical components, automotive and aerospace parts.

1.3.3. Functional approaches

These seek to develop components of a desired functionality without regard to how they
might be assembled.

• Molecular scale electronics seeks to develop molecules with useful electronic properties.
These could then be used as single-molecule components in a nanoelectronic device [18].
• Synthetic chemical methods can also be used to create synthetic molecular motors, such
as in a so-called nanocar.

Nanosystems Page 10
1.3.4. Bio mimetic approaches

• Bionics or bio mimicry seeks to apply biological methods and systems found in nature, to
the study and design of engineering systems and modern technology. Bio mineralization
is one example of the systems studied
• Bio nanotechnology is the use of bio molecules for applications in nanotechnology,
including use of viruses. [19] Nanocellulose is a potential bulk-scale application.

1.4. Speculative

These subfields seek to anticipate what inventions nanotechnology might yield, or attempt to
propose an agenda along which inquiry might progress. These often take a big-picture view
of nanotechnology, with more emphasis on its societal implications than the details of how
such inventions could actually be created.

• Molecular nanotechnology is a proposed approach which involves manipulating single

molecules in finely controlled, deterministic ways. This is more theoretical than the other
subfields and is beyond current capabilities.
• Nanorobotics centres on self-sufficient machines of some functionality operating at the
nanoscale. There are hopes for applying nanorobots in medicine, [20, 21, and 22] but it
may not be easy to do such a thing because of several drawbacks of such devices. [23]
Nevertheless, progress on innovative materials and methodologies has been demonstrated
with some patents granted about new nanomanufacturing devices for future commercial
applications, which also progressively helps in the development towards nanorobots with
the use of embedded nanobioelectronics concepts. [24, 25]
• Productive nanosystems are "systems of nanosystems" which will be complex
nanosystems that produce atomically precise parts for other nanosystems, not necessarily
using novel nanoscale-emergent properties, but well-understood fundamentals of
manufacturing. Because of the discrete (i.e. atomic) nature of matter and the possibility of
exponential growth, this stage is seen as the basis of another industrial revolution. Mihail
Roco, one of the architects of the USA's National Nanotechnology Initiative, has
proposed four states of nanotechnology that seem to parallel the technical progress of the
Industrial Revolution, progressing from passive nanostructures to active nanodevices to
complex nanomachines and ultimately to productive nanosystems.
• Programmable matter seeks to design materials whose properties can be easily, reversibly
and externally controlled though a fusion of information science and materials science.
• Due to the popularity and media exposure of the term nanotechnology, the words
picotechnology and femtotechnology have been coined in analogy to it, although these
are only used rarely and informally.

1.5. Fundamental concepts

Nanotechnology is the engineering of functional systems at the molecular scale. This covers
both current work and concepts that are more advanced. In its original sense, nanotechnology
refers to the projected ability to construct items from the bottom up, using techniques and
tools being developed today to make complete, high performance products. One nanometre
(nm) is one billionth, or 10−9, of a meter. By comparison, typical carbon-carbon bond lengths,
or the spacing between these atoms in a molecule, are in the range 0.12–0.15 nm, and a DNA
double-helix has a diameter around 2 nm. On the other hand, the smallest cellular life-forms,

Nanosystems Page 11
the bacteria of the genus Mycoplasma, are around 200 nm in length. By convention,
nanotechnology is taken as the scale range 1 to 100 nm following the definition used by the
National Nanotechnology Initiative in the US. The lower limit is set by the size of atoms
(hydrogen has the smallest atoms, which are approximately a quarter of an nm diameter)
since nanotechnology must build its devices from atoms and molecules. The upper limit is
more or less arbitrary but is around the size that phenomena not observed in larger structures
start to become apparent and can be made use of in the nano device.[8] These new
phenomena make nanotechnology distinct from devices which are merely miniaturised
versions of an equivalent macroscopic device; such devices are on a larger scale and come
under the description of micro technology.[9] To put that scale in another context, the
comparative size of a nanometre to a meter is the same as that of a marble to the size of the
earth.[10] Or another way of putting it: a nanometre is the amount an average man's beard
grows in the time it takes him to raise the razor to his face [10].Two main approaches are used
in nanotechnology. In the "bottom-up" approach, materials and devices are built from
molecular components which assemble themselves chemically by principles of molecular
recognition. In the "top-down" approach, nano-objects are constructed from larger entities
without atomic-level control [11]. Areas of physics such as nanoelectronics, nanomechanics,
nanophotonics and nanoionics have evolved during the last few decades to provide a basic
scientific foundation of nanotechnology.

1.5.1. Larger to smaller: a materials perspective

A number of physical phenomena become pronounced as the size of the system decreases.
These include statistical mechanical effects, as well as quantum mechanical effects, for
example the “quantum size effect” where the electronic properties of solids are altered with
great reductions in particle size. This effect does not come into play by going from macro to
micro dimensions. However, quantum effects become dominant when the nanometre size
range is reached, typically at distances of 100 nanometres or less, the so called quantum
realm. Additionally, a number of physical (mechanical, electrical, optical, etc.) properties
change when compared to macroscopic systems. One example is the increase in surface area
to volume ratio altering mechanical, thermal and catalytic properties of materials. Diffusion
and reactions at nanoscale, nanostructures materials and nanodevices with fast ion transport
are generally referred to nanoionics. Mechanical properties of nanosystems are of interest in
the nanomechanics research. The catalytic activity of nanomaterial also opens potential risks
in their interaction with biomaterials.

[Link] of reconstruction on a clean Gold (100) surface

As visualized using scanning tunnelling microscopy. The positions of the individual

atoms composing the surface are visible.

Nanosystems Page 12
Materials reduced to the nanoscale can show different properties compared to what they
exhibit on a macro scale, enabling unique applications. For instance, opaque substances
become transparent (copper); stable materials turn combustible (aluminium); insoluble
materials become soluble (gold). A material such as gold, which is chemically inert at normal
scales, can serve as a potent chemical catalyst at nanoscales. Much of the fascination with
nanotechnology stems from these quantum and surface phenomena that matter exhibits at the
nanoscale. [12]

1.5.2. Simple to complex: a molecular perspective

Modern synthetic chemistry has reached the point where it is possible to prepare small
molecules to almost any structure. These methods are used today to manufacture a wide
variety of useful chemicals such as pharmaceuticals or commercial polymers. This ability
raises the question of extending this kind of control to the next-larger level, seeking methods
to assemble these single molecules into supramolecular assemblies consisting of many
molecules arranged in a well defined manner. These approaches utilize the concepts of
molecular self-assembly and/or supramolecular chemistry to automatically arrange
themselves into some useful conformation through a bottom-up approach. The concept of
molecular recognition is especially important: molecules can be designed so that a specific
configuration or arrangement is favoured due to non-covalent intermolecular forces. The
Watson–Crick base pairing rules are a direct result of this, as is the specificity of an enzyme
being targeted to a single substrate, or the specific folding of the protein itself. Thus, two or
more components can be designed to be complementary and mutually attractive so that they
make a more complex and useful whole. Such bottom-up approaches should be capable of
producing devices in parallel and be much cheaper than top-down methods, but could
potentially be overwhelmed as the size and complexity of the desired assembly increases.
Most useful structures require complex and thermodynamically unlikely arrangements of
atoms. Nevertheless, there are many examples of self-assembly based on molecular
recognition in biology, most notably Watson–Crick base pairing and enzyme-substrate
interactions. The challenge for nanotechnology is whether these principles can be used to
engineer new constructs in addition to natural ones.

1.6. Molecular nanotechnology: a long-term view

Molecular nanotechnology, sometimes called molecular manufacturing, describes engineered

nanosystems (nanoscale machines) operating on the molecular scale. Molecular
nanotechnology is especially associated with the molecular assembler, a machine that can
produce a desired structure or device atom-by-atom using the principles of mechanosynthesis.
Manufacturing in the context of productive nanosystems is not related to, and should be
clearly distinguished from, the conventional technologies used to manufacture nanomaterial
such as carbon nanotubes and nanoparticles. When the term "nanotechnology" was
independently coined and popularized by Eric Drexler (who at the time was unaware of an
earlier usage by Norio Taniguchi) it referred to a future manufacturing technology based on
molecular machine systems. The premise was that molecular scale biological analogies of
traditional machine components demonstrated molecular machines were possible: by the
countless examples found in biology, it is known that sophisticated, stochastically optimised
biological machines can be produced. It is hoped that developments in nanotechnology will
make possible their construction by some other means, perhaps using bio mimetic principles.
However, Drexler and other researchers have proposed that advanced nanotechnology,

Nanosystems Page 13
although perhaps initially implemented by bio mimetic means, ultimately could be based on
mechanical engineering principles, namely, a manufacturing technology based on the
mechanical functionality of these components (such as gears, bearings, motors, and structural
members) that would enable programmable, positional assembly to atomic specification. The
physics and engineering performance of exemplar designs were analyzed in Drexler's book
Nanosystems. In general it is very difficult to assemble devices on the atomic scale, as all one
has to position atoms on other atoms of comparable size and stickiness. Another view, put
forth by Carlo Montemagno, is that future nanosystems will be hybrids of silicon technology
and biological molecular machines. Yet another view, put forward by the late Richard
Smalley, is that mechanosynthesis is impossible due to the difficulties in mechanically
manipulating individual molecules. This led to an exchange of letters in the ACS publication
Chemical & Engineering News in 2003. Though biology clearly demonstrates that molecular
machine systems are possible, non-biological molecular machines are today only in their
infancy. Leaders in research on non-biological molecular machines are Dr. Alex Zettl and his
colleagues at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratories and UC Berkeley. They have constructed at
least three distinct molecular devices whose motion is controlled from the desktop with
changing voltage: a nanotube nanomotor, a molecular actuator, [13] and a
nanoelectromechanical relaxation oscillator. [14] See nanotube nanomotor for more examples.
An experiment indicating that positional molecular assembly is possible was performed by
Ho and Lee at Cornell University in 1999. They used a scanning tunnelling microscope to
move an individual carbon monoxide molecule (CO) to an individual iron atom (Fe) sitting
on a flat silver crystal, and chemically bound the CO to the Fe by applying a voltage.

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