Nanotechnology involves the characterization, fabrication and/or manipulation of structures, devices or materials that have at least one dimension (or contain components with at least one dimension) that is approximately 1–100 nm in length.
When particle size is reduced below this threshold, the resulting material exhibits physical and chemical properties that are significantly different from the properties of macroscale materials composed of the same substance.
Research in the nanotechnology field has skyrocketed over the last decade, and already there are numerous companies specializing in the fabrication of new forms of nanosized matter, with anticipated applications that include medical therapeutics and diagnostics, energy production, molecular computing and structural materials.
In 2008, nanotechnology demanded over $15 billion in worldwide research and development money (public and private) and employed over 400,000 researchers across the globe.
Nanotechnologies are projected to impact at least $3 trillion across the global economy by 2020, and nanotechnology industries worldwide may require at least 6 million workers to support them by the end of the decade