The nanotechnology revolution is being driven by a number of developments, ideas, and technical advancements. The primary driving forces behind the nanotechnology revolution are instruments that measure and manipulate atoms and molecules.

The invention of the Scanning Tunneling Microscope permitted us for the first time to see single atoms on a surface. Before this, using techniques based on electromagnetic radiation, it was possible to view and create images of lattices of many molecules. For example, with x-ray techniques it is possible to recreate the positions of atoms in a complex matrix or lattice. With tunneling electronic microscopes (TEM) it is possible to directly image atoms in a lattice. However, these techniques rely on the scattering of electromagnetic radiation from a collection of atoms, and thus cannot see single atoms.

Another important innovation is the laser “tweezer”. By using the momentum of photons it is possible to isolate in a single location collections of several hundred molecules or atoms. The possibility of isolating a few molecules or even a few hundred molecules was not considered possible before this invention .

Moore’s law, popularized in the late 20th century, dictates that there is a relationship between the size of electronic devices such as transistors and time. This relationship has been very effective in predicting advances in the world of microelectronics for almost thirty years. However physicists are predicting that Moore’s law will begin breaking down when the size of electronic devices becomes less than 100 nanometers. There is a great effort to discover new methodologies for creating electronic devices with dimensions that are less than 100 nanometers.