Nanoscopic scale
Encyclopedia
The nanoscopic scale usually refers to structures with a length scale
Length scale
In physics, length scale is a particular length or distance determined with the precision of one order of magnitude. The concept of length scale is particularly important because physical phenomena of different length scales cannot affect each other and are said to decouple...

 applicable to nanotechnology
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology is the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally, nanotechnology deals with developing materials, devices, or other structures possessing at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometres...

, usually cited as 1-100 nanometers. The nanoscopic scale is (roughly speaking) a lower bound to the mesoscopic scale for most solids.

For technical purposes, the nanoscopic scale is the size at which the expected fluctuations of the averaged properties (due to the motion and behavior of individual particles) can no longer be reduced to a size below some desirable threshold (often a few percent), and must be rigorously established within the context of any particular problem.

The 'nanoscopic scale' is sometimes marked as the point where the properties of a material change; above this point, the properties of a material are caused by 'bulk' or 'volume' effects, namely which atoms are present, how they are bonded, and in what ratios. Below this point, the properties of a material change, and while the type of atoms present and their relative orientations are still important, 'surface area effects' (also referred to as quantum effects)become more apparent-these effects are due to the geometry of the material (how thick it is, how wide it is, etc), which, at these low dimensions, can have a drastic effect on quantized states, and thus the properties of a material.

See also

  • Center for Probing the Nanoscale
    Center for Probing the Nanoscale
    The Center for Probing the Nanoscale at Stanford University was founded in 2004 by researchers from Stanford University and IBM. The center is one of the National Science Foundation Nanoscale Science and Engineering Centers...

  • Center for Nanoscale Materials
    Center for Nanoscale Materials
    The Center for Nanoscale Materials is one of five Nanoscale Science Research Centers the United States Department of Energy sponsors. The Center is at Argonne National Laboratory location in Argonne, Illinois....

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