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Ballistic Magnetoresistance: (BMR) is yet another way in which spin orientation, encoding information on a storage medium such as a hard drive, can modify electrical resistance in a nearby circuit, thereby accomplishing the sensing of that orientation.

Bio-assemblies or Biomolecular Assemblies: containing several protein units, DNA loops, lipids, various ligands, etc.

Biovorous: From "biovore;" an organism capable of converting biological material into energy for sustenance.

BioMEMS -- MEMS used in medicine, that use microchips.

BioNEMS -- biofunctionalized nanoelectromechanical systems.

Biomimetic: Imitating, copying, or learning from nature. Nanotechnology already exists in nature; thus, nanoscientists have a wide variety of components and tricks already available.

Biomimetics: study of the structure and function of biological substances to make artificial products that mimic the natural ones.

Biomimetic Chemistry: Knowledge of biochemistry, analytical chemistry, polymer science, and biomimetic chemistry is linked and applied to research in designing new molecules, molecular assemblies, and macromolecules having biomimetic functions. These new bio-related materials of high performance, including, for example, enzyme models, synthetic cell membranes, and biodegradable polymers, are prepared, tested, and constantly improved in this division for industrial scale production.

Biomimetic Materials: Materials that imitate, copy, or learn from nature.

Biopolymeroptoelectromechanical Systems [BioPOEMS]: combining optics and microelectromechanical systems, and used in biological applications.

Biostasis: A condition in which an organism's cell and tissue structure are preserved, allowing later restoration by cell repair machines. Applicable to cryonics. [FS] See also "ischemic coma," "ametabolic coma," "biostatic coma," and "in suspension."

Blue Goo - opposite of Grey goo. Benificial tech, or "police" nanobots.

Born-Oppenheimer Approximation: permits the use of classical mechanics in modeling and thinking about molecular and atomic motions. Needless to say, this greatly simplifies the conceptual framework required for thinking about molecular machines. Once used as an argument on why MNT could not work.

Bose-Einstein Condensates [BEC's]: "...aren't like the solids, liquids and gases that we learned about in school. They are not vaporous, not hard, not fluid. Indeed, there are no ordinary words to describe them because they come from another world -- the world of quantum mechanics."

Bottom Up: Building larger objects from smaller building blocks. Nanotechnology seeks to use atoms and molecules as those building blocks. The advantage of bottom-up design is that the covalent bonds holding together a single molecule are far stronger than the weak. [NTN] Mostly done by chemists, attempting to create structure by connecting molecules.

Brownian Assembly: Brownian motion in a fluid brings molecules together in various position and orientations. If molecules have suitable complementary surfaces, they can bind, assembling to form a specific structure. Brownian assembly is a less paradoxical name for self-assembly (how can a structure assemble itself, or do anything, when it does not yet exist?).

Brownian Motion: Motion of a particle in a fluid owing to thermal agitation, observed in 1827 by Robert Brown. (Originally thought to be caused by vital force, Brownian motion in fact plays a vital role in the assembly and activity of the molecular structures of life).

Bulk technology: Technology in which atoms and molecular are manipulated in bulk, rather than individually.

Buckminsterfullerene: See Fullerenes. A broad term covering the variety of buckyballs and carbon nanotubes that exist. Named after the architect Buckminster Fuller, who is famous for the geodesic dome, which buckyballs resemble.

Bucky Balls [AKA: C60 molecules & buckminsterfullerene] - molecules made up of 60 carbon atoms arranged in a series of interlocking hexagonal shapes, forming a structure similar to a soccer ball. See Nanotubes

Bush Robot: A concept for robots of ultimate dexterity, they utilize fractal branching to create ever-shrinking "branches," eventually ending in nanoscale "fingers." Developed by Hans Moravec. See Fractal branching ultra-dexterous robots

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Carbon Nanotubes: see Nanotubes

Cellular Automata: an array of identically programmed automata, or "cells," which interact with one another.

Cell pharmacology: Delivery of drugs by medical nanomachines to exact locations in the body.

Cell Repair Machine: Molecular and nanoscale machines with sensors, nanocomputers and tools, programmed to detect and repair damage to cells and tissues, which could even report back to and receive instructions from a human doctor if needed.

Single Cell Repair Unit A cell repair unit using cilia for propulsion and equipped with a nanocomputer having 10 megabytes of fast RAM and 1 gigabyte of slower-access memory. The unit is extending 1000 individually-controlled molecular manipulators.

Multiple Cell Repair Units Working Together Several cell repair units are shown simultaneously engaged in repairing a single neuronal cell. Communications fibers and cables link the repair units to a master controller system that directs all the repair activities from outside the scene.

© Copyright 1988 by the Alcor Life Extension Foundation.
Artist Brian Wowk, "Cell Repair Technology," Cryonics Magazine, July 1988; Alcor Foundation Reprint, pp. 7, 10. Thanks also to Robert A. Freitas Jr., author of Nanomedicine, and organizer of the Foresight Nanomedicine Gallery.

Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD): a technique used to deposit coatings, where chemicals are first vaporized, and then applied using an inert carrier gas such as nitrogen.

Cobots: Collaborative robots designed to work alongside human operators. Prototype cobots are being used on automobile assembly lines to help guide heavy components like seats and dashboards into cars so they don't damage auto body parts as workers install them.

Cognotechnology: Convergence of nanotech, biotech and IT, for remote brain sensing and mind control.

Computational Nanotechnology: permits the modeling and simulation of complex nanometer-scale structures. The predictive and analytical power of computation is critical to success in nanotechnology: nature required several hundred million years to evolve a functional "wet" nanotechnology; the insight provided by computation should allow us to reduce the development time of a working "dry" nanotechnology to a few decades, and it will have a major impact on the "wet" side as well.

Computronium: A highly (or optimally) efficient matrix for computation, such as dense lattices of nanocomputers or quantum dot cellular automata.

Convergent Assembly: "...rapidly make products whose size is measured in meters starting from building blocks whose size is measured in nanometers. It is based on the idea that smaller parts can be assembled into larger parts, larger parts can be assembled into still larger parts, and so forth. This process can be systematically repeated in a hierarchical fashion, creating an architecture able to span the size range from the molecular to the macroscopic."

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Fractal Shape Shifting Robots look like "Rubic's Cubes" that can "slide" over each other on command, changing and moving in any overall shape desired for a particular task. These cubes communicate with each other and share power through simple internal induction coils (or surface contacts in some models), have batteries, a small computer and various kinds of internal magnetic and electric inductive motors (depending on size) used to move over other cubes.

When sufficiently miniaturized (below 0.1mm) and fabricated using photolithography and E-Beam methods, the machines may exceed human manual dexterity and could then be programmed to assemble complex fractal aggregates or even to maintain the photolithographic and E-Beam equipment itself! The ultimate goal is self sustaining systems and "self-assembly" features that can drop cost dramatically and enable successive generations of robots exhibiting greater utility and value, to be built along the way.

Fullerenes: Fullerenes are a molecular form of pure carbon discovered in 1985. They are cage-like structures of carbon atoms, the most abundant form produced is buckminsterfullerene (C60), with 60 carbon atoms arranged in a spherical structure. There are larger fullerenes containing from 70 to 500 carbon atoms.

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Genegeneering: Genetic engineering.

Genetic Algorithm: Any algorithm which seeks to solve a problem by considering numerous possibilities at once, ranking them according to some standard of fitness, and then combining ("breeding") the fittest in some way. In other words, any algorithm which imitates natural selection.

Giant Magnetoresistance: (GMR). It results from subtle electron-spin effects in ultra-thin 'multilayers' of magnetic materials, which cause huge changes in their electrical resistance when a magnetic field is applied. GMR is 200 times stronger than ordinary magnetoresistance. [See Spintronics] GMR enables sensing of significantly smaller magnetic fields, which in turn allows hard disk storage capacity to increase by a factor of 20.

GNR technologies (Genetic Engineering, Nanotechnology, and Robotics)

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Molecular Integrated Microsystems (MIMS): microsystems in which functions found in biological and nanoscale systems are combined with manufacturable materials.

Molecular Electronics (ME) [moletronics] Any system with atomically precise electronic devices of nanometer dimensions, especially if made of discrete molecular parts rather than the continuous materials found in today's semiconductor devices. Also: Using molecule-based materials for electronics, sensing, and optoelectronics .... ME is the set of electronic behaviors in molecule-containing structures that are dependent upon the characteristic molecular organization of space .... ME behavior is fixed at the scale of the individual molecule, which is effectively the nanoscale.

Molecular Manipulator: A device combining a proximal probe mechanism for atomically precise positioning with a molecule binding site on the tip; can serve as the basis for building complex structures by positional synthesis.

Molecular Manufacturing: Manufacturing using molecular machinery, giving molecule-by-molecule control of products and by-products via positional chemical synthesis.

Molecular Medicine: Studying molecules as they relate to health and disease, and manipulating those molecules to improve the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of disease.

Molecular Nanotechnology (MNT): Thorough, inexpensive control of the structure of matter based on molecule-by-molecule control of products and byproducts; the products and processes of molecular manufacturing, including molecular machinery.

Molecular Recognition: A chemical term referring to processes in which molecules adhere in a highly specific way, forming a larger structure; an enabling technology for nanotechnology.

Molecular Systems Engineering: Design, analysis, and construction of systems of molecular parts working together to carry out a useful purpose.

Molecular Wire: A molecular wire - the simplest electronic component - is a quasi-one-dimensional molecule that can transport charge carriers (electrons or holes) between its ends.

Monomolecular Computing: the implantation inside a single molecule of ALL the functional groups or circuits to realize a calculation, without any help from external artifices such as re-configuration, calculation sharing between the user and the machine, or selection of the operational devices.

Moore's Law -- Coined in 1965 by Gordon Moore, future chairman and chief executive of Intel, it stated at the time that the of number transistors packed into an integrated circuit had doubled every year since the technology's inception four years earlier. In 1975 he revised this to every two years, and most people quote 18 months. The trend cannot continue indefinitely with current lithographic techniques, and a limit is seen in ten to fifteen years. However, the baton could be passed to nanoelectronics, to continue the trend (though the smoothness of the curve will very likely be disrupted if a completely new technology is introduced).

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Nanarchy: The use of automatic law-enforcement by nanomachines or robots, without any human control - see blue goo

Nanite: Machines with atomic-scale components. (Popularized by the Star Trek episode "Evolution") As to their weight, a popular question: "Do you 'feel' heavier after you drink a mouthful of water? A mouthful of water, roughly 5 cm^3, would have the same mass as a ~2 terabot (2 trillion nanites) dose of 1 micron^3 nanorobots. You'll never feel it." Robert A. Freitas Jr. "Nanobot" and "Nanorobot" usually mean the same thing.

Nanoarray: an ultra-sensitve, ultra-miniaturized array for biomolecular analysis. BioForce Nanosciences' Nanoarrays utilize approximately 1/10,000th of the surface area occupied by a conventional microarray, and over 1,500 nanoarray spots can be placed in the area occupied by a single microarray domain.

Nanoassembler: the Holy Grail of nanotechnology; once a perfected nanoassembler is availble, building anything becomes possible, with physics and the imagination the only limitation (of course each item would have to be designed first, which is another small hurdle).

Nanobarcode: SurroMed's Nanobarcode™ technology uses cylindrically-shaped colloidal metal nanoparticles, in which the metal composition can be alternated along the length and the size of each metal segment can be controlled. Intrinsic differences in reflectivity between the metal segments allow individual particles to be identified by conventional optical microscopy.

Nanobeads: Polymer beads with diameters of between 0.1 to 10 micrometers. Also called nanodots, nanocrystals and quantum beads. Impregnating fluorescent crystal chips into these beads allows simultaneous measurement of thousands of biological interactions, a stepping stone for breakthroughs in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. ... with the potential to accelerate drug discovery and clinical diagnostics."

Nanobiotechnology: applying the tools and processes of MNT to build devices for studying biosystems, in order to learn from biology how to create better nanoscale devices. Should hasten the creation of useful micro devices that mimic living biological systems.

Nanobubbles: tiny air bubbles on colloid surfaces. Thought to reduce drag, such as would be of benefit to swimmers wearing a suit coverd in them.

Nanochips: we are approaching the limits of standard microchip technology; thus, the "nanochip" -- a next-smaller microchip. [ed] They are also a next-gen device for mass storage, of significantly higher density, with greater speed, and much lower cost.

Nanochondria: Nanomachines existing inside living cells, participating in their biochemistry (like mitochondria) and/or assembling various structures. See also nanosome.

Nanocones: Nonplanar graphitic structures. Carbon-based structures with five-fold symmetry that form due to disclination defects in two-dimensional graphene sheets. They have been observed as nanotube caps and as freestanding structures.

Nanocontainers: "Micellar nanocontainers" or "Micelles," these are nanoscale polymeric containers that could be used to selectively deliver hydrophobic drugs to specific sites within individual cells.

Nanocrystals: also known as nanoscale semiconductor crystals. "Nanocrystals are aggregates of anywhere from a few hundred to tens of thousands of atoms that combine into a crystalline form of matter known as a "cluster." Typically around ten nanometers in diameter, nanocrystals are larger than molecules but smaller than bulk solids and therefore frequently exhibit physical and chemical properties somewhere in between. Given that a nanocrystal is virtually all surface and no interior, its properties can vary considerably as the crystal grows in size."

The first atomic-scale images of nanocrystals that help reduce pollution show a surprising triangular, rather than hexagonal, shape. The new information should help researchers improve the chemical process.

	Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 951 (2000). Atomic-Scale Structure of Single-Layer MoS2 Nanoclusters. S. Helveg, J. V. Lauritsen, E. Lægsgaard, I. Stensgaard, J. K. Nørskov, B. S. Clausen, H. Topsøe, and F. Besenbacher Thanks to Physical Review Letters & Dr. Flemming Besenbacher, University of Aarhus, Denmark © American Physical Society
Click for larger version

"Nanocrystals might be used to make super-strong and long-lasting metal parts. The crystals also might be added to plastics and other metals to make new types of composite structures for everything from cars to electronics." Single atoms caged inside nanocrystals gives you a "quantum confined atom", or QCA, "with potential uses ranging from clear-glass sunglasses to bio-sensors to optical computing and just about anything optical in between."

Single-electron transistor (SET) is a three terminal device, where single electron current between a source and a drain through a nanocrystal is controlled by a gate. The nanocrystals are the tiny light specs.

	Thanks to Professor Gleb Finkelstein, Physics Department. © Duke University
Click for larger version

Nano Cubic Technology: an ultra-thin layer coating that results in higher resolution for recording digital data, ultra-low noise and high signal-to-noise ratios that are ideal for magneto-resistive (MR) heads. It is capable of catapulting data cartridge and digital videotape to one-terabyte native (uncompressed) capacities and floppy disk capacities to three gigabytes. To help visualize the potential, 1TB can store up to 200 two-hour movies.

NEMS - nanoelectromechanical systems: A generic term to describe nano scale electrical/mechanical devices.

Nanoelectronics: Electronics on a nanometer scale, whether made by current techniques or nanotechnology; includes both molecular electronics and nanoscale devices resembling today's semiconductor devices.

Nanogate: A device that precisely meters the flow of tiny amounts of fluid. Precise control of the flow restriction is accomplished by deflecting a highly polished cantilevered plate. The opening is adjustable on a sub-nanometer scale, limited by the roughness of the polished plates. Thus, the Nanogate is an Ultra Surface Finish Effect Mechanism (USFEM). The Nanogate can be fabricated on a macro-, meso- or micro- (MEMs) scale.

Nanoguitar: "Made for fun to illustrate the technology -- the world's smallest guitar is 10 micrometers long -- about the size of a single cell -- with six strings each about 50 nanometers, or 100 atoms, wide. Just one of several structures that Cornell researchers believe are the world's smallest silicon mechanical devices. Researchers made these devices at the Cornell Nanofabrication Facility, bringing microelectromechanical devices, or MEMS, to a new, even smaller scale -- the nano-sized world." SeeWorld's smallest silicon mechanical devices are made at Cornell.

Smallest guitar, about the size of a human blood cell, carved out of crystalline silicon, illustrates new technology for nanosized electromechanical devices. Click for larger version Thanks to Professor Harold Craighead and Dustin Carr. © Cornell University

Nanoimprinting: Sometimes called soft lithography. A technique that is very simple in concept, and totally analogous to traditional mould- or form-based printing technology, but that uses moulds (masters) with nanoscale features. As with the printing press, the potential for mass production is clear. There are two forms of nanoimprinting, one that uses pressure to make indentations in the form of the mould on a surface, the other, more akin to the printing press, that relies on the application of "ink" applied to the mould to stamp a pattern on a surface. Other techniques such as etching may then follow.

Nanoindentation: Nanoindentation is similar to conventional hardness testing performed on a much smaller scale. The force required to press a sharp diamond indenter into a material is measured as a function of indentation depth. As depth resolution is on the scale of nanometers (hence the name of the instrument), it is possible to conduct indentation experiments even on thin films. Two quantities which can be readily extracted from nanoindentation experiments are the material's modulus, or stiffness, and its hardness, which can be correlated to yield strength. Investegators have also used nanoindentation to study creep, plastic flow, and fracture of materials.

Nanolithography: Writing on the nanoscale. From the Greek words Nanos - Dwarf, Lithos - rock, and grapho - to write, this word literally means "small writing on rocks."

Nanomachine: An artificial molecular machine of the sort made by molecular manufacturing.

Nanomachining: like traditional machining, where portions of the structure are removed or modified, nanomachining involves changing the structure of nano-scale materials or molecules.

NanoManipulator: uses virtual reality (VR) goggles and a force feedback probe as an interface to a scanning probe microscope, providing researchers with a new way to interact with the atomic world. Researchers can travel over genes, tickle viruses, push bacteria around, and tap on molecules - the nanoManipulator simplifies the process and allows researchers to play with their atoms. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) The Nanomanipulator from the Center for Computer Integrated Systems for Microscopy and Manipulation (CISMM) at UNC Chapel Hill. Part of the Nanoscale Science Research Group (NSRG).

Nanomanipulation: The process of manipulating items at an atomic or molecular scale in order to produce precise structures.

Nanomaterials: can be subdivided into nanoparticles, nanofilms and nanocomposites. The focus of nanomaterials is a bottom up approach to structures and functional effects whereby the building blocks of materials are designed and assembled in controlled ways.

Nano-Optics: Interaction of light and matter on the nanoscale.

Nanopens & Nanopencils: (AKA: Atomic Pencil) "Analogous to using a quill pen but on a billionth the scale", and may transform dip-pen nanolithography. Allows for drawing electronic circuits a thousand times smaller than current ones. The "pen" is an atomic force microscope. See Nanopipettes and Nanoplotter for further details.

NanoPGM - nanometer-scale patterned granular motion: The goal of NanoPGM is to generate millions of ìnanofingers,î finger-like structures each only a few nanometers long, that might someday perform precise, massively parallel manipulation of molecules and directed assembly of other nanometer-scale objects. This ability answers one of the biggest technical challenges facing builders of nanocomputers: how to arrange as many as a trillion molecular computing components in an area only a few millimeters square.

Nanopharmaceuticals: nanoscale particles used to modulate drug transport for drug uptake and delivery applications.

Nanophase Carbon Materials (carbon nanotubes, nanodiamond, nanocomposite]--A form of matter in which small clusters of atoms form the building blocks of a larger structure. These structures differ from those of naturally occurring crystals, in which individual atoms arrange themselves into a lattice.

Nanopipettes: "Cantilevered/Straight Nanopipettes can be used as nanopens for controlled chemical delivery or removal from regions as small as 100 nanometers. They can also be used as vessels for containing molecules whose optical properties change in response to their chemical environment." Other uses include "controlled chemical etching with the precision of atomic force microscopy; chemical imaging of surfaces; delivering femtosecond laser pulses; and performing NSOM/SNOM imaging using a UV excimer laser."

Nanoplotter: A multi-tip nanopen. "A device that can draw patterns of tiny lines just 30 molecules thick and a single molecule high. ... produces eight identical patterns at once and extends ... dip-pen nanolithography towards mass producing nanoscale devices and circuits by converting what was a serial process to a parallel one. May be use to "... miniaturize electronic circuits, pattern precise arrays of organic and biomolecules such as DNA and put thousands of different medical sensors on an area much tinier than the head of a pin."

Nanopores: Involves squeezing a DNA sequence between two oppositely charged fluid reservoirs, separated by an extremely small channel. Essentially itty bitty tiny holes. Nanoscopic pores found in purpose-built filters, sensors, or diffraction gratings to make them function better. As activated carbon, they may also be used as an alternative fuel storage medium, due to their massive internal surface area. "Scientists believe nanopores, tiny holes that allow DNA to pass through one strand at a time, will make DNA sequencing more efficient." In biology, they are "complex protein assemblies that span cell membranes and allow ionic transport across the otherwise impermeable lipid bilayer. Nanopores are important because while some pores help maintain cell homeostasis, others disrupt cell function." "A nanopore can be a protein channel in a lipid bilayer or an extremely small isolated 'hole' in a thin, solid-state membrane" such that "DNA and RNA, can be registered and characterized singly ..."

Nanoprobe: Nanoscale machines used to diagnose, image, report on, and treat disease within the body. See "Cell Repair Machine", "Nanites", "Nanobots", and "Nanomachine".

Courtesy of, and Copyright 1999 by Time Inc. Reprinted by Permission.
"Anatomy of a Nanoprobe" by Joe Lertola. 11/08/99 issue of Time.
Reproduction strictly prohibited without permission of Time.
Click for larger image

Nanosprings: A nanowire wrapped into a helix. Speculation is that they "may someday make highly sensitive magnetic field detectors, perhaps finding application in hard drive read heads. Alternatively, nanosprings could serve as positioners, or even as tiny conventional springs, for nanomachines of the future."

Nanosurgery: A generic term including molecular repair and cell surgery.

Nanotechnology: a manufacturing technology able to inexpensively fabricate most structures consistent with natural law, and to do so with molecular precision.

Copyright Prof. Vincent H. Crespi Department of Physics Pennsylvania State University.

A one dimensional fullerene (a convex cage of atoms with only hexagonal and/or pentagonal faces) with a cylindrical shape. Carbon nanotubes discovered in 1991 by Sumio Iijima resemble rolled up graphite, although they can not really be made that way. Depending on the direction that the tubes appear to have been rolled (quantified by the 'chiral vector'), they are known to act as conductors or semiconductors. Nanotubes are a proving to be useful as molecular components for nanotechnology.

Strictly speaking, any tube with nanoscale dimensions, but generally used to refer to carbon nanotubes (a commonly mentioned non-carbon variety is made of boron nitride), which are sheets of graphite rolled up to make a tube. The dimensions are variable (down to 0.4 nm in diameter) and you can also get nanotubes within nanotubes, leading to a distinction between multi-walled and single-walled nanotubes. Apart from remarkable tensile strength, nanotubes exhibit varying electrical properties (depending on the way the graphite structure spirals around the tube, and other factors), and can be insulating, semiconducting or conducting (metallic). [CMP]

"Maybe the most significant spin-off product of fullerene research....are nanotubes based on carbon or other elements. These systems consist of graphitic sheets seamlessly wrapped to cylinders. With only a few nanometers in diameter, yet (presently) up to a millimeter long, the length-to-width aspect ratio is extremely high. A truly molecular nature is unprecedented for macroscopic devices of this size. Accordingly, the number of both specialized and large-scale applications is growing constantly."

Nanowires: "Semiconductor nanowires are one-dimensional structures, with unique electrical and optical properties, that are used as building blocks in nanoscale devices." See Nanowires within nanowires and Learning how to Fabricate Nanowire. "Striped or 'superlatticed' nanowires can function as transistors, LEDs (light-emitting diodes) and other optoelectronic devices, biochemical sensors, heat-pumping thermoelectric devices, or all of the above, along the same length of wire."

Nanny: A cell-repair nanite

NEMS - Nanoelectromechanical systems: Nanoscale MEMS.

nm: Abbreviation for Nanometer.

NRAM™ - Nanotube-based/Nonvolatile RAM, developed by Nantero, using proprietary concepts and methods derived from leading-edge research in nanotechnology.

Nanowetting: how wetting behavior depends on nanoscale topography on a substrate.

NBIC: Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology and Cognitive Science.

NE3LS: Nanotechnology's Ethical, Environmental, Economic, Legal, and Social Implications. From 'Mind the gap': science and ethics in nanotechnology.

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OLED or Organic LED is not made of semiconductors. It's made from carbon-based molecules. That is the key science factor that leads to potentially eliminating LEDs' biggest drawback ñ size. The carbon-based molecules are much smaller. And according to a paper written by Dr. Uwe Hoffmann, Dr. Jutta Trube and Andreas Kl–ppel, entitled OLED - A bright new idea for flat panel displays "OLED is brighter, thinner, lighter, and faster than the normal liquid crystal (LCD) display in use today. They also need less power to run, offer higher contrast, look just as bright from all viewing angles and are - potentially - a lot cheaper to produce than LCD screens." See also LCD and LED. LCD, LED, and OLED definitions courtesy The San Francisco Consulting Group (SFCG)

OMEGA POINT: Also called the Quantum Omega Point Theory. A possible future state when intelligence controls the Universe totally, and the amount of information processed and stored goes asymptotically towards infinity.

Orbital Tower: also known as a "space tether", "beanstalk" or "heavenly funicular". A cable in synchronous orbit, with one end anchored to the surface of the Earth, often with a small asteroid at the outer end to provide some extra tension and stability. Picture also a "space elevator". In theory, constructed of a diamondoid material, approximately 22,000 miles long, with one end in a stable orbit, and the other somewhere [probably] around the equator. Used frequently in science-fiction yarns, and may become a reality with the advent of mature MNT. Such an elevator would move freight and passengers into orbit at a cost per pound orders of magnitude less than current launches, with passenger safety comparable to train, plane, or subway trips. Becomes possible when we can mass-produce nanotubes, and make their length to fit.

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QuantumBrain:[theoretical] Think of your brain. Now, think of your brain performing at vastly superior levels. Nanobots will become an as-needed addition to your existing neurons, extending your mental capacities further then you can probably now imagine.

Quantum Computer: A computer that takes advantage of quantum mechanical properties such as superposition and entanglement resulting from nanoscale, molecular, atomic and subatomic components. Quantum computers may revolutionize the computer industry in the not too distant future.

Quantum Confined Atoms (QCA): atoms caged inside nanocrystals. May find uses in clear-glass sunglasses, bio-sensors, and optical computing.

Quantum Cryptography: A system based on quantum- mechanical principles. Eavesdroppers alter the quantum state of the system and so are detected. Developed by Brassard and Bennett, only small laboratory demonstrations have been made.

Quantum Dots: nanometer-sized semiconductor crystals, or electrostatically confined electrons. Something (usually a semiconductor island) capable of confining a single electron, or a few, and in which the electrons occupy discrete energy states just as they would in an atom (quantum dots have been called "artificial atoms"). [CMP] Other terminology reflects the preoccupations of different branches of research: microelectronics folks may refer to a "single-electron transistor" or "controlled potential barrier," whereas quantum physicists may speak of a "Coulomb island" or "zero-dimensional gas" and chemists may speak of a "colloidal nanoparticle" or "semiconductor nanocrystal." All of these terms are, at various times, used interchangeably with "quantum dot," and they refer more or less to the same thing: a trap that confines electrons in all three dimensions.

Quantum Dot Nanocrystals (QDNs): used to tag biological molecules, and "measuring between five and ten nanometres across, are made up of three components. Their cores contain paired clusters of atoms such as cadmium and selenium that combine to create a semiconductor. This releases light of a specific colour when stimulated by ultraviolet of a wide range of frequencies. These clusters are surrounded by a shell made of an inorganic substance, to protect them. The whole thing is then coated with an organic surface, to allow the attachment of proteins or DNA molecules. By varying the number of atoms in the core, QDNs can be made to emit light of different colours."

Quantum Mechanics: A largely computational physical theory explaining the behavior of quantum phenomena, which incorporates the theory of special relativity. Despite dilignet attempts, general relativity has not been sucessfully incorporated into quantum mechanics.

Quantum Mirage: A nanoscale property that may allow information to be transfered through use of the wave property of electrons. Thus, quantum computers might not require wires as we know them.

Quantum Tunneling: When electrons pass through a barrier, without overcoming it or breaking it down.

Quantum Well: A P-N-P junction in which the "N" layer is ~10 nm (where traditional physics leaves off and quantum effects take over) and an "electron trap" is created. "If one makes a heterostructure with sufficiently thin layers, quantum interference effects begin to appear prominently in the motion of the electrons. The simplest structure in which these may be observed is a quantum well, which simply consists of a thin layer of a narrower-gap semiconductor between thicker layers of a wider-gap material."

Quantum Wire: Another form of quantum dot, but unlike the single-dimension "dot," a quantum wire is confined only in two dimensions - that is it has "length," and allows the electrons to propagate in a "particle-like" fashion. Constructed typically on a semiconductor base, and (among other things) used to produce very intense laser beams, switchable up to multi-gigahertz per second.

Qubit: The quantum computing analog to a bit. Qubits exhibit superposition. Thus, unlike normal bits, qubits can be both 1 and 0 at the same time.

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