Page 27 - Science at the nanoscale

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1.3. Examples of Interesting Nanoscience Applications
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consists of one set of parallel nanowires less than 100 atoms wide
that cross over a second set (Fig. 1.9). A molecule or material that
can be stimulated electrically to conduct either more electricity
or less is sandwiched between the two sets of wires. The result-
ing interwire junctions form a switch at each intersection between
crossing wires that can hold its “on” or “off” status over time.
Such switches may be able to scale down to nearly single-atom
dimensions, and this approach suggests how far the future minia-
turisation of ICs might someday go.
Further Reading
Feynman’s 1959 talk at the annual APS meeting in Caltech:
“There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom”: http://www.zyvex.
com/nanotech/feynman.html
Richard Booker, Earl Boysen, Erik Haroz, Earl Boysen, “Nano
technology for Dummies” (Wiley, 2005).
Eric K. Drexler, “Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nano-
technology” (Knopf, 1987).
Gerber C. and Lang H. P., “How the Doors to the Nanoworld were
Opened”, Nature Nanotechnology 1 (2006) 3.
S. A. Wolf et al., “Spintronics: A Spin-Based Electronics Vision for the
Future”, Science 294, 1488–1495 (2001).
Sankar Das Sarma, “Spintronics”, American Scientist 89, 516–523
(2001).
Mark A. Ratner, “Introducing Molecular Electronics”, Materials
Today, February 2002.