The first step for many nanoscientists is using computers to design 3-D chemical models like this molecular bearing. Nanotechnology is not necessarily glamorous. Although micromechanical and nanoelectronic devices get cheaper and faster as they get smaller, they also become prohibitively expensive to create. No surprise then that researchers are looking for better and faster tools. In the meantime, scientists continue to forge the microcosmos, and their first stop is the computer terminal.
Computers are essential to the entire nanofabrication process, from modeling to manufacturing.
Whatever the software, designing the final product on a computer is the first step for any nanoscientist. The trick is turning a computer design into a real object, and a very small one at that. Mechanical nanoscientists use more precise techniques involving lithography to carve precise structures into silicon wafers. The wafers are coated with a filmic substance and exposed, so that an image of the pattern that will ultimately be etched on the chip is created. Once exposed, the pattern is carved onto the silicon wafer using reactive ion etching, a sort of sandblasting with charged ions.