Nanometer Scale Science and Technology

This book focuses on "Nanometer Scale Science and Technology''. This is one of the most rapidly expanding research fields and it is considered one of the most important issues in forming future societies. Nanoscience and nanotechnology are at the interface between physics, chemistry, engineering and, most importantly, biology. The most fundamental processes of living matter occur on the nanometer scale. Micro-electrical mechanical systems are approaching the dimensions of biological cells, opening up the possibility of connecting machines to individual cells. This book is based on local probes (STM, AFM, SNOM) and related supreme technological achievements. These topics are extensively covered in the book, mainly devoted to instrumentation aspects. From a more fundamental point of view it also covers advanced subjects such as clusters, nanocontacts, photonic band gap materials, atom manipulation by light, atom optics with Bose-Einstein condensates and quantum computing.