SOME OTHER APPLICATIONS

Optical Techniques. Optical techniques are in theory limited in resolution to half the wavelength of the light being used, which keeps them out of the lower nanoscale, but various approaches can overcome these limits, such as the use of quantum mechanical properties of light or interferometry (measuring things using the interference of light beams), which has recently been shown to have the potential to detect movements at a 1000th of the wavelength of the light being used.

Litho graphics. The mask-based lithographic tools and techniques used in the traditional semiconductor industry have also entered the nano realm (sub 100nm), but not yet for mass production.

Additional Tools. The list is by no means complete. A few other tools and techniques that operate on the nanoscale are: nuclear magnetic resonance; molecular beam epitaxy and laser tweezers (whereby laser beams are used to hold and manipulate molecules). ; And a tool called the nanomanipulator that borrows from the world of virtual reality to allow researchers to "feel" individual atoms. Research into new tools and techniques is extremely vibrant.

Computer Modeling. Finally, a mention of a tool that goes back some years now but will surely have an impact on nanotechnology, computer modeling (much used by the molecular nanotechnologists). New supercomputers are being commissioned, and distributed computing is being brought into play to simulate the behavior of matter at the atomic and molecular level. The study of the way proteins fold (an essential determinant of their function), and efforts to predict this, represent one well established application, and modeling of billions of atoms to predict the behavior of bulk solids is now being achieved. Computer modeling will no doubt prove very useful in understanding and predicting the behavior of nanoscale structures because they operate at what is sometimes referred to as the mesoscale, an area where both classical and quantum mechanics influence behavior. While researchers are used to using the mathematics behind classical and quantum mechanics individually, the combination of the two in the same structures presents challenges and new models that incorporate both, and their interplay, are becoming increasingly important.