Absolute Zero
The physical limit to how low a temperature any matter can have, which equals -273.15¡ C.

Assembler
A chemical device that given certain atomic or molecular inputs (starting materials) can output a specific molecular structure or aggregation.

Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM)
A type of scanning probe microscopy that maps the topography of an interface by scanning a force sensor over the interface. Alias: Scanning Force Microscopy (SFM).

ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate)
A chemical compound that functions as fuel for biomolecular nanotechnology having the formula, C₁₀H₁₆N₅O₁₃P₃.

ATPase
A protein complex responsible for converting electical potential energy (from a nanoscale batery) into ATP, the molecule used for immediate fuel by virtually all living systems.

Automated Chemistry
The use of an automated machine (e.g. computer driven robot or fluidic devices) to carry out chemical reactions, purification and molecular assembly.

Biomimetic
Imitating, copying, or learning from biological systems.

Biomolecular Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology existing in living systems and resulting from our ability to use biomolecules as components for molecular nanotechnology.

Bottom-Up
Building (or designing) larger, more complex objects by integration of smaller building blocks or components.

Breakdown
The failing of a physical principle or unit of measurement as the scale is changed.

Buckyball
Round (convex) fullerenes ranging in size from 20 to over 500 carbon atoms.

Buckminsterfullerene
A fullerene with the chemical formula (C₆₀).

Causality
The law of cause and effect.

Chemistry
The science (and corresponding technology) that seeks to understand and control the atomic and molecular structure of matter.

Coherence
From quantum physics, coherence is a property exhibited by matter and energy when it remains unmeasured and is thus able to exist in more than one state simultaneously (superposition).

Conductor
A substance, material or object that allows electricity to flow through it with low resistance.

Conformation
The shape of a molecule.

Coupling
A connection between more than one object or energy pathway so that together they function as a single unit.

Covalent Bond
An attachment between two atoms resulting from the sharing of a pair of electrons.

Dendrimer
From the Greek word dendra - tree, a dendrimer is polymer that branches.

Dip Pen Nanolithography (DPN)
A method for nanoscale patterning of surfaces by the transfer of a material from the tip of a scanning probe microscope onto the surface.

Directed-Assembler
A specific type of assembler that makes use of directed-assembly, such that the assembly process requires external energy or information input.

Electron Beam
A stream of electrons moving in the same direction at the same speed.

Electron Beam Lithography (EBL)
A method of fabricating sub-micron and nanoscale features by exposing electrically sensitive surfaces to an electron beam.

Electron Transport Chain
Biomolecular machinery present in prokaryotic membranes and eukaryotic mitochnodria that couples the flow of electrons to proton pumps in order to convert energy from sugar to ATP.

Energy Conversion
Changing energy from one form to another.

Entanglement
From quantum mechanics, entanglement is a relationship between two systems in which they exist in more than one state simultaneously (by superposition), and the state of one system determines the state of the other.

Entropy
A measure of the disorder of a closed system. The second law of thermodynamics states that the entropy (and disorder) increases as time moves forward.

Far-Field Diffraction Limit
A physical limit to how focused a beam of light can be.

Fractal
A mathematical construct that has a fractional dimension.

Fullerene
A class of cage-like carbon compounds composed of fused, pentagonal and/or hexagonal sp² carbon rings.

Functional Group
Part of a molecule (group) with the potential to take part in a chemical reaction.

Genomics
"The study of the full complement of genes that make up an organism."

Grey Goo
"A scary concept dreamed up by Erik K Drexler whereby tiny assemblers, or molecular machines, that are capable of making copies of themselves, are let loose and proceed to replicate uncontrollably, consuming everything in their path and turning it into a grey goo."

Human Genome Project
A research initiative that has mapped the entire human genome.

Histone
A protein present in the eukaryotic nucleus that is bound to the DNA at regularly spaced intervals.

Highest Occupied Molecular Orbital (HOMO)
The highest energy molecular orbital of an atom or molecule that contains an electron.

Hydrogen Bond
A bond formed between hydrogen and two other atoms.

Hydrophobic
Literally - water fearing, from the Greek hydro - "water" and phobo - "fear".

Insulator
A substance, object or material that does not conduct electricity.

Interface
In physical terms, an interface is the boundry between two phases, for instance between a solid and liquid or between a liquid and gas.

Intermolecular
Between more than one molecule.

Intramolecular
Within a single molecule.

Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) Film
A film of organic material (often surfactant molecules) assembled at the liquid-gas interface and subsequently transferred onto a solid substrate.

Lithography
A process for creating chemical patterns on a surface.

London Dispersion Forces
An attractive force between atoms or molecules caused by the numerous transient dipoles resulting from electronic superposition.

Lowest Unocupied Molecular Orbital (LUMO)
The lowest energy molecular orbital of an atom or molecule that does not contain an electron.

Magnetic Force Microscopy (MFM)
A method for observing local magnetic fields near a surface by scanning the surface with a magnetic probe.

Mass to Charge Ratio
A number defining how a particle will respond to an electric or magnetic field that can be calculated by dividing the mass of a particle by its charge.

Micro-Electromechanical Systems (MEMS)
"The fabrication or micro-machining of materials to make stationary and moving structures, devices and systems of a nominal size scale from a few centimeters to a few micrometers." *

Molecular Nanotechnology (MNT)
A term coined by Drexler refering to technology resulting from the ability to thoroughly and inexpensively control matter on the molecular level.

Moore's Law
An emperical trend in the microelectronics industry for the number of circuits per chip to double roughly every 18 months.

Nano
From the Greek nanos - meaning "dwarf" this prefix is used in the metric system to mean 10^-9 or one billionth (1/1,000,000,000).

Nanolithography
Writing on the nanoscale.

Nanomachine
Also known as 'nanites', nanomachines are mechanical devices so small that the parts are single molecules.

Nanometre (nm)
One billionth of a metre.

Nanoscience
The scientific discipline seeking to increase our knowledge and understanding of nanoscale phenomena, i.e. science on the scale of 0.1 nm to 100 nm.

Nanotechnology
The application of nanoscience in order to control processes on the nanometer scale, i.e. between 0.1 nm and 100 nm.

Nanotube
A one dimensional fullerene with a cylindrical shape.

NEMS (NanoElectroMechanical Systems)
Systems consisting of integrated electromechanical actuators of nanometer-scale dimensions.

Nanoimprint Lithography (NIL)
A method of lithography that uses a mold, or mechanical force (embossing) to pattern a resist.

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR)
An analytical method that can detect subatomic and structural information of molecules by measuring the adsorption of radio-frequency electromagnetic radiation by nuclei under the influence of a magnetic field.

Optical Tunneling
A quantum mechanical phenomena resulting from photon delocalization that allows light to cross propagation barriers such as an interface.

Photolithographic Mask
A template used in photolithography that allows selective exposure of a photosensitive surface.

Photolithography
Writing or creating patterns by means of light.

Photonic Band Gap (PBG)
An energy range (and corresponding wavelength range) for which a material neither absorbs light nor allows light propagation.

Polymer
A molecule consisting of many smaller sub-units covalently linked together.

Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)
A chemical reaction that uses the polymerase enzyme to carry out in vitro replication of DNA.

Potential Energy
Energy stored in an object due to its position or internal structure.

Proteomics
The study of the full expression of proteins in an organism

Quantum Computer
A computer that exploits quantum mechanical phenomena such as superposition and entanglement.

Quantum Dot
An object so small that adding or removing a single electron represents a significant change.

Quantum Interferometric Lithography
A method of lithography that exploits quantum entanglement in order to focus a lithographic beam beyond half of its wavelength.

Quantum Mechanics
A physical model of chemical and optical phenomena, as well as the behaviour of matter in general on a small scale.

Quantum Mirage
A nanoscale property that may allow information to be transfered through use of the wave property of electrons.

Qubit
The quantum computing analog to a bit.

Redox Group
A part of a molecule that undergoes changes in its electronic properties.

Replication
The mechanism used in living systems to make copies of genetic information.

Reproducibility
A property of an experiment or process where one tends to receive consistent results from following a specific procedure.

Resist
A material or coating that can protect a surface from chemical reactions.

Resolution
The minimum distance between two objects that can be distinguished in microscopy or the minimum spacing between two features that can be fabricated with lithography.

Scanning Capacitance Microscopy (SCM)
A variation of scanning force microscopy that maps the localized capacitance of a surface.

Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)
A method of producing images of a surface by scanning an electron beam over the sample and measuring the electronic interactions with the interface.

Scanning Near-field Optical Microscopy (SNOM)
A type of scanning probe microscopy that maps the near-field optical properties of an interface.

Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM)
A method for imaging nanoscale features of surfaces by scanning a sensor (probe) over a surface. Near-field effects such as tunneling, van der Waals forces, local fields and more are serially detected at localized points on the surface and used to create an SPM image.

Scanning Thermal Microscopy
A type of scanning probe microscopy that maps the local temperature and thermal conductivity of an interface.

Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM)
A type of scanning probe microscopy that maps the local electrical properties of an interface.

Science
The pursuit of knowledge and understanding, from the Latin term scientia, which means 'knowledge'.

Self-Assembled Monolayer (SAM)
A two-dimensional film, one molecule thick, covalently assembled at an interface.

Self-Assembler
A specific type of assembler that makes use of self-assembly such that the assembly process would theoretically not require external energy or information input.

Self-Assembly
A method of integration in which the components spontaneously assemble, typically by bouncing around in a solution or gas phase until a stable structure of minimum energy is reached.

Self-Replication
The act of objects making copies of themselves - similar to biological reproduction except that self-replicating objects should make exact copies of themselves.

Semiconductor
A substance or object with conductive properties between those of a conductor and a insulator.

Single Electron Transfer
Exchange of one electron at a time between two electrodes.

Soft Lithography
A method for transferring a surface pattern that makes use of an elastomeric stamp.

Spin
A quantum number describing the angular momentum and magnetic moment of a subatomic particle.

Spin-Spin Coupling
Interaction between the spin states of two subatomic particles.

Superconductor
An object or substance that conducts electricity with zero resistance.

Superposition
A quantum mechanical phenomena in which a system exists in more than one state simultaneously.

Surface Tension
The force acting on a liquid-gas interface resulting in thin film on the surface.

Surfactant
Short for 'SURFace ACTive AgeNT' - a surfactant is a molecule that lowers suface tension.

Technology
The application of knowledge and understanding in order to control processes and fabricate products, from the Greek root techni, meaning 'art'.

Template
An external source of information or structure often used in manufacturing and mass production. As a nanoscale example, biological systems are known to use nucleic acids as a templates for protein synthesis.

Templating
The directed assembly of materials through interaction with a template.

Top-Down
Molding, carving and fabricating small materials and components by using larger objects such as our hands, tools and lasers.

Thermocycler
An instrument that repeatedly cycles through various temperatures required for an iterative, temperature-dependant chemical process such as the polymerase chain reaction.

Transcription
Conversion of genetic information from DNA to messenger RNA (mRNA).

Translation
Conversion of genetic information from messenger RNA (mRNA) into protein.

Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM)
A method of producing images of a sample by illuminating the sample with electronic radiation (in a vacuum), and detecting the electrons that are transmitted through the sample.

Vacuum
An environment with pressure lower than that of the standard atmosphere (14.7 PSI or 760 Torr).

Van der Waals forces
Any of the noncovalent attractive or repulsive forces acting upon neutral atoms or molecules.