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Risø National Laboratory • DTU Frederiksborgvej 399 DK-4000 Roskilde maj.munch.andersen@risoe.dk |
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Nanotech is about studying and manipulating matter at atomic levels >> |
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The construction sector is looking for new sustainable technical solutions >> |
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Green solutions within innovation will create a sustainable society >> |
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Nanotechnology is a highly multidisciplinary field, bringing together areas such as applied physics, materials science, interface and colloid science, device physics, supramolecular chemistry, self-replicating machines and robotics, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, biological engineering, and electrical engineering.
A simple definition of nanotechnologies is the study and manipulation of materials at the nanometer scale. One nanometer is one billionth of a |
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meter (about 100 000 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair, a 1000 times smaller than a red blood cell, or about half the size of the diameter of DNA). Materials exhibit different properties at a nanoscale and the manipulation of this phenomenon allows the development of new products with new functionalities.
Two main approaches are used in nanotechnology. In the "bottom-up" approach, materials and devices are built from molecular components, which assemble themselves |
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chemically by principles of molecular recognition. In the "top-down" approach, nano-objects are constructed from larger entities without atomic-level control. Manipulation and observation of nanostructures is possible thanks to the combination of analytical tools –e.g., Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), and Scanning Tunnelling Microscope (STM) – and instruments for refined processes (e.g., Electron Beam Lithography and Molecular Beam Epitaxy). |
