Nanometre
hideA nanometre (American spelling: nanometer; symbol nm) (Greek: νάνος, nanos, "dwarf"; μέτρον, metrοn, "unit of measurement") is a unit of length in the metric system, equal to one billionth of a metre (i.e., 10-9 m or one millionth of a millimetre).
It is one of the more often used units for very small lengths, and equals ten Ångström, an internationally recognized non-SI unit of length. It is often associated with the field of nanotechnology and the wavelength of light. Formerly, millimicron (symbol mµ) was used for the nanometre. The symbol µµ has also been used .
It is also the most common unit used to describe the manufacturing technology used in the semiconductor industry. It is the most common unit to describe the wavelength of light, with visible light falling in the region of 400–700 nm. The data in compact discs is stored as indentations (known as pits) that are approximately 100 nm deep by 500 nm wide. Reading an optical disk requires a laser with a wavelength 4 times the pit depth -- a CD requires a 780 nm wavelength (near infrared) laser, while the shallower pits of a DVD requires a shorter 650 nm wavelength (red) laser, and the even shallower pits of a Blu-ray Disc require a shorter 405 nm wavelength (blue) laser.
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News tagged with nanometers
OLED Tunes its Colors for Sunlight-Style Illumination
Jul 16, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have developed a lighting device that can change its color temperature throughout the day, matching the natural daylight chromaticities produced by the sun. Currently, no other ...
Engineering Carbon for Impressive Hydrogen Storage
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
May 22, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- University of Missouri researchers recently showed how carbon nanostructures can be engineered to become excellent media for hydrogen storage, work that may be important for the advancement of hydrogen-energy ...
'Writing' Patterns on Carbon Nanotubes With Polymer Chains
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
May 19, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Carbon nanotubes are at the center of the nanoelectronics research movement, with scientists making great progress toward getting nanotube-based electronic devices into the hands of consumers. ...
Small optical force can budge nanoscale objects
Nov 17, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Engineering researchers have used a very tiny beam of light with as little as 1 milliwatt of power to move a silicon structure up to 12 nanometers.
Findings show nanomedicine promising for treating spinal cord injuries
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Nov 08, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at Purdue University have discovered a new approach for repairing damaged nerve fibers in spinal cord injuries using nano-spheres that could be injected into the blood shortly ...
Pinning Down Superconductivity to a Single Layer
Oct 29, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Using precision techniques for making superconducting thin films layer-by-layer, physicists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have identified a single layer ...
LEGO toy helps researchers learn what happens on nanoscale
Aug 25, 2009 |
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Johns Hopkins engineers are using a popular children's toy to visualize the behavior of particles, cells and molecules in environments too small to see with the naked eye. These researchers are arranging little ...
New nanolaser -- spaser -- key to future optical computers and technologies
Aug 16, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Because the new device, called a "spaser," is the first of its kind to emit visible light, it represents a critical component for possible future technologies based on "nanophotonic" circuitry, ...
Effects of 'strong coupling' observed for the first time between light and a micromechanical object
Aug 06, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Physicists at the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI) in Vienna and Innsbruck, Austria, have created an interaction between light and a micromechanical resonator that ...
Salt block unexpectedly stretches in new experiments
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Jun 24, 2009 |
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To stretch a supply of salt generally means using it sparingly.
Graphene may have advantages over copper for IC interconnects at the nanoscale
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Jun 04, 2009 |
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The unique properties of thin layers of graphite - known as graphene - make the material attractive for a wide range of potential electronic devices. Researchers have now experimentally demonstrated the potential ...
Metal sheets with DNA framework may enable nanocircuits
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
May 20, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Using DNA not as a genetic material but as a structural support, Cornell researchers have created thin sheets of gold nanoparticles held together by strands of DNA. The work could prove useful ...
A 'cloaking device' -- it's all done with mirrors
May 13, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Somewhat the way Harry Potter can cover himself with a cloak and become invisible, Cornell researchers have developed a device that can make it seem that a bump in a carpet -- or, indeed, ...
Spiral swimmers may prove micro workhorses (w/Video)
May 11, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Harvard researchers have created a new type of microscopic swimmer: a magnetized spiral that corkscrews through liquids and is able to deliver chemicals and push loads larger than itself.
Scientists Measure Differences Between Normal and Cancer Cell Surfaces
May 05, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists know that cancerous cells and normal cells have different physical features, but the details of these differences, and why they occur, are not well understood. In a recent edition ...
