Physics, chemistry and biology of functional nanostructures

Nanoscience emerged as a field addressing phenomena that are strongly related to and influenced by their length scale being in the nanometer range. From the very beginning its interdisciplinary character became obvious. Meanwhile, after nanoscience had left its infancy, this characteristic feature developed even further by extension of the contributing disciplines: Initially it was supported and pushed forward by physics, materials science and chemistry, with a strong interrelation with semiconductor/information technology with their road maps for the downscaling of switching and storage devices. Today, biology and thus, in a natural way, medicine are included, opening new research areas within nanoscience. As a consequence of this development towards a real transdisciplinary field of science, worldwide collaborative research networks have been installed encompassing physics, materials science, chemistry and biology as well as various areas of engineering.