ABSTRACT
Advances in technology have led to increasingly smaller levels of manipulation to achieve greater results. As this trend continues, we begin to approach the limits of conventional processes to the point where improvements go from small, to incremental, to significant. In microelectronics, the theoretical end of the silicon-based lithographic process is drawing near, while in material science the need to control characteristics beyond the macroscale is becoming necessary to continue innovating. There is an imminent need for controlled manipulation at the nanoscale, and until it is reliably achieved, progress in some arenas may plateau. Once it is achieved, however, a new chapter in technical innovation will be open.
