Instrumentation Reference Book, 4th Edition

Chapter 18. Nanotechnology for Sensors

W. Boyes

18.1. Introduction

Much has changed since the publication of the first edition of this book, but nothing has altered more radically than the field of nanotechnology. Today nanotechnology is beginning to have an impact on sensors, sensor design, and operation.

18.2. What is Nanotechnology?

Nanotechnology, as defined by the As in Encyclopedia Britannica, is “Manipulation of atoms, molecules, and materials to form structures on the scale of nanometres (billionths of a metre).”¹ In his 1959 lecture, “There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom,”² Prof. Richard Feynman described a future filled with “nanomachines”—devices that could be constructed and operated on the molecular level.

¹nanotechnology, Encyclopedia ...