Nanotechnology

The U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative uses the term "nanotechnology" to describe:

Research and technology development aimed to work at atomic and molecular scales, in the length scale of approximately 1 - 100 nanometer range;

The ability to understand, create and use structures, devices and systems that have fundamentally new properties and functions because of their nanoscale structure;

The ability to control – to see, measure and manipulate – matter on the atomic scale to exploit those properties and functions.