Top 10 Commonly Confused Words in Nanoscale Engineering

Top 10 Commonly Confused Words in Nanoscale Engineering 1. Nanometer vs. Micrometer The first pair of words that often cause confusion is nanometer and micrometer. While both are units of length, they differ in scale. A nanometer is one billionth of a meter, while a micrometer is one millionth of a meter. To put it in perspective, the width of a human hair is around 100 micrometers, whereas the size of a DNA molecule is about 2 nanometers. So, remember, nanometer is much smaller than micrometer. 2. Monolayer vs. Multilayer Another set of terms that can be perplexing is monolayer and multilayer. In nanoscale engineering, these words refer to the number of atomic or molecular layers in a material. A monolayer consists of a single layer, while a multilayer has multiple layers. For example, graphene, a popular nanomaterial, is often used in monolayer form, consisting of just one layer of carbon atoms. On the other hand, a multilayer material, such as a thin film, can have several layers stacked on top of each other. 3. Top-Down vs. Bottom-Up Fabrication