Nanoscopic scale
hideThe nanoscopic scale usually refers to structures with a length scale applicable to nanotechnology, usually cited as 1-100 nanometers. The nanoscopic scale is roughly speaking a lower bound to the mesoscopic scale for most solids.
For technical purposes, the nanoscopic scale is the size at which the expected fluctuations of the averaged properties due to the motion and behavior of individual particles can no longer be reduced to below some desirable threshold (often a few percent), and must be rigorously established within the context of any particular problem.
The 'nanoscopic scale' is sometimes marked as the point where the properties of a material change; above this point, the properties of a material are caused by 'bulk' or 'volume' effects, namely which atoms are present, how they are bonded, and in what ratios. Below this point, the properties of a material change, and while the type of atoms present and their relative orientations are still important, 'surface area effects', also referred to as quantum effects, become more apparent-these effects are due to the geometry of the material (how thick it is, how wide it is, etc), which, at these low dimensions, can have a drastic effect on quantized states, and thus the properties of a material.
For more information about Nanoscopic scale, read the full article at
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News tagged with nanoscale
Highlight: Damping of acoustic vibrations in gold nanoparticles
Nov 19, 2009 |
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Vibrations in nanostructures offer applications in molecular-scale biological sensing and ultrasensitive mass detection. To approach single-atom sensing, it is necessary to reduce the dimensions of the structures ...
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.
New nanocrystalline diamond probes overcome wear
Nov 10, 2009 |
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Researchers at the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science at Northwestern University have developed, characterized, and modeled a new kind of probe used in atomic force microscopy (AFM), which images, measures, ...
Danish nanowires have great potential
Nov 02, 2009 |
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Danish nanophysicists have developed a new method for manufacturing the cornerstone of nanotechnology research - nanowires. The discovery has great potential for the development of nanoelectronics and highly ...
Transforming nanowires into nano-tools using cation exchange reactions
Oct 23, 2009 |
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A team of engineers from the University of Pennsylvania has transformed simple nanowires into reconfigurable materials and circuits, demonstrating a novel, self-assembling method for chemically creating nanoscale ...
Scientists solve decade-long mystery of nanopillar formations
Oct 22, 2009 |
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Scientists at the California Institute of Technology have uncovered the physical mechanism by which arrays of nanoscale pillars can be grown on polymer films with very high precision, in potentially limitless ...
New material could efficiently power tiny generators
Oct 22, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- To power a very small device like a pacemaker or a transistor, you need an even smaller generator. The components that operate the generator are smaller yet, and the efficiency of those foundational components ...
Scientists find new set of multiferroic materials
Oct 20, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The trail to a new multiferroic started with the theories of a U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory scientist and ended with a multidisciplinary collaboration that created ...
Scientists Use Self-Assembly to Make Molecule-Sized Particles With Patches of Charge
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Oct 20, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Physicists, chemists and engineers at the University of Pennsylvania have demonstrated a novel method for the controlled formation of patchy particles, using charged, self-assembling molecules ...
Running electronics using light
Oct 19, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- "If you open up almost any electronic gadget, you will see various elements that operating using electric circuitries," Nader Engheta tells PhysOrg.com. "Many of them have different functi ...
Race for Superconductors Shrinks to Nanoscale
Oct 09, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A team of researchers from UT Dallas, Clemson University and Yale University are using science on the nanoscale to address one of the most elusive challenges in physics - the discovery of ...
IBM Research Aims to Build Nanoscale DNA Sequencer (w/ Video)
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Oct 06, 2009 |
4.2 / 5 (11) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- In an effort to build a nanoscale DNA sequencer, IBM scientists are drilling nano-sized holes in computer-like chips and passing DNA strands through them in order to read the information contained ...
Solar Cell Researcher Explores Nanotech Ideas
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Oct 05, 2009 |
5 / 5 (5) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A UT Dallas researcher envisions a time soon when plastic sheets of solar cells are inexpensively stamped out in factories and then affixed to cell phones, laptops and other power-hungry mobile ...
Nanotechnology gets a new light touch
Oct 02, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Building the super-fast computers of the future has just become much easier thanks to an advance by Australian researchers that lets them grab hold of tiny electronics components and probe ...
Making Nanowires More Electrically Stable
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Sep 17, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- It's widely predicted that future electronics will largely depend on something really small -- nanomaterials used for building nanoelectronics. A key component of these tiny circuits is stable nanowires that ...
