The Nano-Micro Interface: Bridging the Micro and Nano Worlds

Controlling the properties of materials by modifying their composition and by manipulating the arrangement of atoms and molecules is a dream that can be achieved by nanotechnology. As one of the fastest developing and innovative -- as well as well-funded -- fields in science, nanotechnology has already significantly changed the research landscape in chemistry, materials science, and physics, with numerous applications in consumer products, such as sunscreens and water-repellent clothes. It is also thanks to this multidisciplinary field that flat panel displays, highly efficient solar cells, and new biological imaging techniques have become reality.

This second, enlarged edition has been fully updated to address the rapid progress made within this field in recent years. Internationally recognized experts provide comprehensive, first-hand information, resulting in an overview of the entire nano-micro world. In so doing, they cover aspects of funding and commercialization, the manufacture and future applications of nanomaterials, the fundamentals of nanostructures leading to macroscale objects as well as the ongoing miniaturization toward the nanoscale domain. Along the way, the authors explain the effects occurring at the nanoscale and the nanotechnological characterization techniques. An additional topic on the role of nanotechnology in energy and mobility covers the challenge of developing materials and devices, such as electrodes and membrane materials for fuel cells and catalysts for sustainable transportation. Also new to this edition are the latest figures for funding, investments, and commercialization prospects, as well as recent research programs and organizations.

Matthias Werner is Managing Director of the company Nano & Micro Technology Consulting (NMTC) in Berlin, Germany. He received his Ph.D. in electronic engineering from the Technical University of Berlin in 1994. He worked as a consultant and leader of a microtechnology expert team of Deutsche Bank AG for several years with major responsibility in establishing a micro and nano technology infrastructure. He acted as manager federal research programs and as consultant for the VDI/VDE-IT where he evaluated the funding of research and industry projects. He is chairman of various international conferences, member of the National Strategy Group for the UK Micro/Nano Manufacturing Initiative and the Institute of Nanotechnology, and coeditor of the International Magazine on Smart Systems Technology (mstnews).

Marcel Van de Voorde is special advisor at IMEC, Belgium. Currently, his knowledge and 40 years' experience in university education, research and management was honored with the gold medal of the Fondation du Mérite Européen. He studied industrial and chemical engineering and received his Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from the Nancy-Université, France. He was co-founder and professor at the Hoger Instituut der Kempen, Geel, and the Technical Institute Don Bosco, Hoboken in Belgium. He further holds professorships at the Catholic University of Leuven, the Ghent University, the Delft University of Technology and is visiting professor at several recognized universities in Europe, US, Japan and China. He was active as advisor to various institutions such as the CERN, the European Commission and the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research.