ABSTRACT
Nanotechnology [45] is a very broad emerging discipline; it describes the utilization and construction of structures with at least one characteristic dimension measured in nanometers. Such materials and systems can be deterministically designed to exhibit novel and significantly improved physical, chemical, and biological properties, phenomena, and processes because of their size. Since they are intermediate between individual atoms and bulk materials, their physical attributes are often also markedly different. These physical properties are not necessarily predictable extrapolations from larger scales. Currently known nanostructures include carbon nanotubes, proteins, and DNA.
