When things are reduced in size, beyond a certain level they come to take on properties that are significantly
different from their properties at ordinary size. It is the exploitation of such nano-level properties that
is the departure point of nanotechnology.
One of the most important nano-level properties is the quantum effect. As explained in Chapter 1, when the scale
of the materials being manipulated approaches that of individual atoms and molecules, quantum properties come
to the fore, causing the materials to show different behavior from ordinary-sized materials. Such effects, which
are known as quantum effects, could be regarded as expressions of size of the materials involved, rather than
of their chemical makeup.
Accordingly, the critical properties and functions of tunnel junctions—so-called
because they show tunnel effects—and of such quantum structures as
quantum dots, quantum wires, and quantum thin films, are mainly of a specific structure, with constituent elements
being largely irrelevant. In short, it is structure rather than substance that decides the properties of these
materials.
As such, you could say that structure holds the key where nanotechnology is concerned. There are differences
between nanostructures and nanomaterials, and so the kind of classification system based on substance types that
is common to ordinary manufacturing doesn't have that much meaning in nanotechnology. The importance of structure
could be considered the most significant feature of nanomaterials.
