An explanation of nano technology and its uses

Nanotechnology is technology related to things that are very, very small. The technology is used in a wide variety of fields from mechanical engineering, where it is used to build parallel-shaft speed reducer gears, to bioengineering where it is used to make targeted drugs. This article will focus on the nanotechnology uses that are related to communication technologies, namely the computer chip.

In a literal sense, nanotechnology is still in the future when it comes to producing circuits (which computer chips are made of). That's because nanotechnology technically deals with matter on an atomic level. Circuits made via real nanotechnology would require placement of individual atoms. The technology that will allow this sort of control is not yet available for building semiconductors.

What is sometimes called nanotechnology is the manipulation of particles smaller than a micron. There are plants, using lithography, that manufacture circuits smaller than a micron. This is technically micro-technology rather than nanotechnology. Microns are 1,000 times bigger than nanometers, meaning that lithographical processes deal with much larger pieces of matter than nanotechnological processes. Where nanotechnology handles an atom at a time, micro-technology deals with conglomerations of millions of atoms.

Currently, the main function of micro-technology is to make computer chips smaller and smaller and smaller. Lithography has not yet reached its size limit, so chips and all things that use chips, will continue to get smaller. Some people suggest that we have arrived at a point where things are small enough. For example, the new business phones, that include internet and email services, come with standard QWERTY key board. Technology has reached the point where using fingers on a keyboard requires a bigger phone than technology dictates. The same is true with things like iPods. One of the complaints when Apple discontinued the iPod mini in favor of the iPod nano was that the nano was actually too small. The hand size product is smaller than hand sized and for some people, that is a problem.

Right now, computer scientists are working on ways to use nanotechnology to compress memory into smaller spaces so you can save onto even smaller devices. If you have seen the size of the 80 GB iPod, you might think it is impossible to go smaller. After all, those devices can hold 1000s and 1000s of hours of entertainment in a space a little bigger than a deck of cards. However, if nanotechnology is ever fully realized, those 1000s and 1000s of hours could be compressed to the size of a postage stamp. It is almost impossible to think of the possibilities, because you are dealing with such small pieces of matter that they are almost, literally, not there.

New technology at the micron level is also driving the new digital capabilities as far as resolution. Remember when 2-mega-pixels was a lot of resolution on a digital camera? Well, now people's cell phones offer than kind of resolution and their camera can go to 10 mega-pixels or even 12. The whole idea behind HD TV is harnessing the smallest technology possible and making pictures with it.

Another thing that nanotechnology will improve is battery life. If you get a really good battery for your computer or iPod, it might last for a full day of continual use. Imagine the nano battery. Nano batteries might be run computers for as long as a watch battery runs a watch. Can you imagine only having to replace your battery every couple of years? The technology is not available yet, but with advances in nanotechnology, it will almost certainly be available in the future.

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Tags: nanotechnology micro-technology atomic_level computer_chips lithography memory_space circuits micron mega-pixels