As worldwide expertise pushes toward the fabrication of circuits with feature sizes below 0.1 micron, the dawn of nanometer-scale technology may be upon us.
Recent demonstrations hint at the possibilities of nanotechnology.
Scientists at IBM Corp. found a way to build structures one atom at a time using atomic-force microscope techniques, and researchers at Cornell University have built parallel probe arrays to multiply the speed of that approach. Molecular electronics research at Mitre Corp. achieved some basic logic circuits built with chemical reactions. And materials researchers are finding ways to attach DNA molecules to atoms, creating designer chemical bonds that could be used to define nanostructures. Amherst campus have claimed a breakthrough in building nanowire arrays. An immediate application of the method would be ultrahigh-density magnetic storage media.