What is nanotechnology?

The term nanotechnology was first used in 1974 by the late Norio Taniguchi (University of Tokyo) to refer to the ability to engineer materials precisely at the scale of nanometres. This is in fact its current meaning; ‘engineer materials’ is usually taken to comprise the design, characterization, production and application of materials, and the scope has nowadays been widened to include devices and systems rather than just materials. Nanotechnology is thus defined as the design and fabrication of materials, devices and systems with control at nanometre dimensions. The essence of nanotechnology is therefore size and control. Because of the diversity of applications, the plural term ‘nanotechnologies’ is preferred by some; nevertheless, they all share the common feature of control at the nanometre scale.