ABSTRACT
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The astonishing idea of functional devices and structures 10,000-100,000 times smaller than the
width of a single human hair (Figure 21.1) excites the imagination and fears of scientists, engineers,
media, politicians, science fiction authors, Hollywood, and the general public. Over the past decade,
the notion of nanotechnology has escaped the laboratories and disseminated into the popular
culture. Browse the newspaper, surf the web, or look to recent sci-fi books and movies because
nanotechnology seems to be everywhere. The study and manipulation of matter on the nanometer
scale (measured in one-billionths of a meter) has been termed nanoscience or nanotechnology, an
exploding field still in its infancy [1,2]. Unique, unpredictable, and highly intriguing physical,
chemical, optical, and electrical phenomena can result from the confinement of matter into nanos-
cale features [3]. As a result, the promise of amazing discoveries relating to the understanding and
preparation of structures exhibiting such interesting and unusual phenomena has attracted the focus
of scientists and engineers from across the globe. Much of the driving force for building infinitesi-
mal devices and features on the nanoscale derives its potential importance in existing and emerging
technologies such as microelectronics, sensors, catalysis, and medical diagnostics, among countless
others [1-3].
