Timely information on scientific and engineering developments occurring in laboratories around the world provides critical input to maintaining the economic and technological strength of the United States. Moreover, sharing this information quickly with other countries can greatly enhance the productivity of scientists and engineers. These are some of the reasons why the National Science Foundation (NSF) has been involved in funding science and technology assessments comparing the United States and foreign countries since the early 1980s. A substantial number of these studies have been conducted by the World Technology Evaluation Center (WTEC) managed by Loyola College through a cooperative agreement with NSF. The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), Committee on Technology's Interagency Working Group on NanoScience, Engineering and Technology (CT/IWGN) worked with WTEC to develop the scope of this Nanostucture Science and Technology report in an effort to develop a baseline of understanding for how to strategically make Federal nanoscale R&D investments in the coming years. The purpose of the NSTC/WTEC activity is to assess R&D efforts in other countries in specific areas of technology, to compare these efforts and their results to U. S. research in the same areas, and to identify opportunities for international collaboration in precompetitive research. Many U. S. organizations support substantial data gathering and analysis efforts focusing on nations such as Japan. But often the results of these studies are not widely available. At the same time, government and privately sponsored studies that are in the public domain tend to be "input" studies.

Nanostructures refer to materials that have relevant dimensions on the nanometer length scales and reside in the mesoscopic regime between isolated atoms and molecules in bulk matter. These materials have unique physical properties that are distinctly different from bulk materials. Self-Assembled Nanostructures provides systematic coverage of basic nanomaterials science including materials assembly and synthesis, characterization, and application. Suitable for both beginners and experts, it balances the chemistry aspects of nanomaterials with physical principles. It also highlights nanomaterial-based architectures including assembled or self-assembled systems. Filled with in-depth discussion of important applications of nano-architectures as well as potential applications ranging from physical to chemical and biological systems, Self-Assembled Nanostructures is the essential reference or text for scientists involved with nanostructures.

From the reviews: "...A class in nanoscale science and technology is daunting for the educator, who must organize a large collection of materials to cover the field, and for the student, who must absorb all the new concepts. This textbook is an excellent resource that allows students from any engineering background to quickly understand the foundations and exciting advances of the field. The example problems with answers and the long list of references in each chapter are a big plus for course tutors. The book is organized into seven sections. The first, nanoscale fabrication and characterization, covers nanolithography, self-assembly, and scanning probe microscopy. Of these, we enjoyed the section on nanolithography most, as it includes many interesting details from industrial manufacturing processes. The chapter on self-assembly also provides an excellent overview by introducing six types of intermolecular interactions and the ways these can be employed to fabricate nanostructures. The second section covers nanomaterials and nanostructures. Out of its 110 pages, 45 are devoted to carbon nanotubes. Fullerenes and quantum dots each have their own chapter that focuses on the properties and applications of these nanostructures. Nanolayer, nanowire, and nanoparticle composites of metals and semiconductors are briefly covered (just 12 pages), with slightly more discussion of specific applications. The section on nanoscale electronics begins with a history of microelectronics before discussing the difficulties in shrinking transistor size further. The discussion of problems (leakage current, hot electrons, doping fluctuations, etc.) and possible solutions (high- k dielectrics, double-gate devices) could easily motivate deeper discussions of nanoscale electrical transport. A chapter on molecular electronics considers transport through alkanes, molecular transistors, and DNA in a simple, qualitative manner we found highly instructive. Nanoscale magnetic systems are examined in the fourth section. The concept of quantum computation is nicely presented, although the discussion of how this can be achieved with controlled spin states is (perhaps necessarily) not clear. We found the chapter on magnetic storage to be one of the most lucid in the book. The giant magnetoresistive effect, operation of spin valves, and issues in magnetic scaling are easier to understand when placed in the context of the modern magnetic hard disk drive. Micro- and nanoelectromechanical systems are covered with an emphasis on the integration of sensing, computation, and communication. Here, the student can see advanced applications of lithography. The sixth section, nanoscale optoelectronics, describes quantum dots, organic optoelectronics, and photonic crystals. The chapter on organic optoelectronics is especially clear in its discussion of the fundamentals of this complicated field. The book concludes with an overview of nanobiotechnology that covers biomimetics, biomolecular motors, and nanofluidics. Because so many authors have contributed to this textbook, it suffers a bit from repetition. However, this also allows sections to be omitted without any adverse effect on student comprehension. We would have liked to see more technology to balance the science; apart from the chapters on lithography and magnetic storage, little more than an acknowledgment is given to commercial applications. Overall, this book serves as an excellent starting point for the study of nanoscale science and technology, and we recommend it to anyone with a modest scientific background. It is also a great vehicle to motivate the study of science at a time when interest is waning. Nanotechnology educators should look no further." (MATERIALS TODAY, June 2005)

In this book, the term "electrochemical nanotechnology" is defined as nanoprocessing by means of electrochemical techniques. This introductory book reviews the application of electrochemical nanotechnologies with the aim of understanding their wider applicability in evolving nanoindustries. These advances have impacted microelectronics, sensors, materials science, and corrosion science, generating new fields of research that promote interaction between biology, medicine, and microelectronics. This volume reviews nanotechnology applications in selected high technology areas with particular emphasis on advances in such areas. Chapters are classified under four different headings: Nanotechnology for energy devices - Nanotechnology for magnetic storage devices - Nanotechnology for bio-chip applications - Nanotechnology for MEMS/Packaging.

Nanotechnology has received tremendous interest over the last decade, not only from the scientific community but also from a business perspective and from the general public. Although nanotechnology is still at the largely unexplored frontier of science, it has the potential for extremely exciting technological innovations that will have an enormous impact on areas as diverse as information technology, medicine, energy supply and probably many others. The miniturization of devices and structures will impact the speed of devices and information storage capacity. More importantly, though, nanotechnology should lead to completely new functional devices as nanostructures have fundamentally different physical properties that are governed by quantum effects. When nanometer sized features are fabricated in materials that are currently used in electronic, magnetic, and optical applications, quantum behavior will lead to a set of unprecedented properties. The interactions of nanostructures with biological materials are largely unexplored. Future work in this direction should yield enabling technologies that allows the study and direct manipulation of biological processes at the (sub) cellular level.

First to review nanoscale self-assembly employing such a wide variety of methods Covers a wide variety physical, chemical and biological systems, phenomena, and applications First overviews of nanotube biotechnology and bimetallic nanoparticles

Written by a team of experts, Nanotechnology Standards provides the first comprehensive, state-of-the-art reviews of nanotechnology standards development, both in the field of standards development and in specific areas of nanotechnology. It also describes global standards-developing processes for nanotechnology, which can be extended to other emerging technologies. For topics related to nanotechnology, the reviews summarize active areas of standards development, supporting knowledge and future directions in easy-to-understand language aimed at a broad technical audience. This unique book is also an excellent resource for up-to-date information on the growing base of knowledge supporting the introduction of nanotechnology standards and applications into the market. Praise for this volume: “This book provides a valuable and detailed overview of current activities and issues relevant to the area as well as a useful summary of the short history of standardization for nanotechnologies and the somewhat longer history of standardization in general. I have no hesitation in recommending this book to anyone with an interest in nanotechnologies whether it is from a technical or societal perspective.” --Dr. Peter Hatto, Director of Research, IonBond Limited, Durham, UK