| A | B |
|---|
| adenosine triphosphate (ATP) | Organic molecule that stores energy in a bio¬logical cell |
| amines | compounds used as attachment points for molecular structures. |
| amphiphile | A molecule that has two distinct parts; a hydrophilic (water¬loving) head and a hydrophobic (water-fearing) tail. |
| atom | Smallest particle of an element, composed of three types of charged particles: protons (positive), neutrons (neutral), and electrons (negative) |
| atomic force microscope (AFM) | A scanning probe instrument that measures the atomic force acting on its tip as it moves along the surface of a sample. |
| benzene | A ring of 6 carbon atoms, each with one hydrogen atom. |
| bioactive materials | Materials capable of interacting with living tissue. |
| bioavailability | The extent to which a drug successfully targets specific cells. Used in measuring the effectiveness of drug delivery. |
| biometrics | Identification based on personal features such as face recognition or fingerprint. |
| biomimetics | Applying systems found in nature to the design of engineering systems and modern technology. Velcro is an example of biomimetics: the plastic hooks and loops resemble plant burrs (hooks) that cling to animal fur and clothing (loops). |
| biosensor | A sensor that detects biological molecules such as proteins. |
| bottom-up fabrication | A construction process that works with the smallest units of a material first (in this context, atoms) and builds them up into the form of the final product. Compare top-down fabrication. |
| buckyball | Short for buckminsterfullerene; a molecule containing 60 carbon atoms in a soccer-ball orientation. Also known as fullerene or C60. |
| buckypaper | A randomly oriented network of carbon nanotubes formed into a flat sheet. |
| cantilever | A solid beam allowed to oscillate at one end. Used in atomic force microscopes (AFMs). |
| carbon nanotube | A graphite sheet rolled up into a tube. |
| catalyst | A substance that reduces the amount of energy required during a chemical reaction. Its presence increases the rate of reaction without the consuming the catalyst. |
| chirality | In the context of this book, chirality is the "twist" of a carbon nanotube. Twisting carbon nanotubes down the length of the tube gives them unique properties that depend upon the degree of the twist. (For example, specific twists make a nanotube either metallic or semiconducting.) |
| colloidal self-assembly | A process by which colloids assemble themselves into useful alignments; used in developing photonic crystals. |
| colloids | Very small particles (within the lnm-to-l000nm range) that remain dispersed in a liquid for a long time. Their small size prevents them from being filtered easily or settled rapidly. |
| colorimetric sensors | Sensors that provide an indicator for quick macro¬scopic analysis by changing color. |
| composite | An engineered material composed of two or more components. |
| conduction band | The energy at which electrons can move freely through the material. |
| covalent bond | Atoms that bond sharing two electrons. |
| curing | Process of hardening. In this context, heat is added to a liquid polymer to harden it. |
| data mining | Sifting through large amounts of data, trying to find relation¬ships and patterns within the information. |
| decoherence | Decoherence is the breakdown of quantum properties (superposition and entanglement) changing the behavior of the system from quantum mechanics to quantum physics. This is usually when a quantum mechanical system interacts with its environment. |
| dendrimer | An artificial, polymer-based molecule that resembles a foam ball with tree sprigs shooting out of it in every direction. Contains a great number of voids between the sprigs, which allows it to carry drug molecules. |
| deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) | The nucleic acid that carries the genetic blue¬print for all forms of cellular life. |
| diffraction | The spreading or bending of light as it passes by an object. An example of diffraction is using a prism to spread sunlight into a spectrum of color. |
| doping | Adding specific impurities ("dopants") to give a material desired properties, - as in the process that creates either n-type or p-type silicon. |
| electrochromatics | Materials that change color when energized by an electri¬cal current. |
| electroluminescence | Converting electrical energy into light. |
| electron-beam lithography (EBL) | Fabrication method that uses a tight beam of electrons to form nano-scale features on a substrate. |
| electro-osmosis | A method that uses an electric field to move liquids through a nano-channel. The sides of the nano-channel's wall are charged, allowing the liquid to slip through at a constant rate. |
| electrophoresis | : A method of using an electric field to move particles through a nano-channel and separate them by size. The particles move at a rate inverse to their mass the larger ones are slower than the smaller ones. |
| endocytosis | A process whereby cells absorb particles by enveloping them with the help of vesicles formed from the cell wall. |
| enigma | A mystery wrapped in a riddle. "Atomic interactions at the nano¬scale are an enigma that is yet to be fully understood." To Rich, nanotechnol¬ogy and women are both enigmas. |
| entanglement | Relationship in which the quantum states of two or more objects are always described with reference to each other, even if they're physically separate. |
| exocytosis | The removal of particles by enveloping them in a vesicle and releasing them outside the cell wall. |
| extreme ultraviolet (EUv) | Light whose wavelengths are in the range of 10 to 200 nm, outside the higher end of the visible spectrum. |
| fabrication | Creating something physical. In the context of this book, the actual manufacture of computer processors. |
| fiber optics | Technology that uses light pulses through thin glass fibers at high speeds. |
| field-effect transistor | The most common type of transistor used in computer processors. It has a gate that controls whether it's a 1 or a 0. |
| fluorescence | A property of some molecules to absorb one wavelength of light and then emit light at a higher wavelength. |
| fullerene | A molecule containing 60 carbon atoms in a soccer-ball orienta¬tion. Also known as buckminsterfullerene, buckyball, or C60 |
| functionalization | Attaching groups of molecules to a surface to serve a spe¬cific purpose. |
| graphite | A flat sheet of benzene rings attached together |
| gray goo | Nanotech-disaster scenario in which myriads of self-replicating nano-assemblers make uncountable copies of themselves and consume the earth - "gray" because they're machines; "goo" because their small size makes them look like a thick liquid when taken together |
