One of the basic principles of nanotechnology is that when
you make things extremely small—one nanometer is about five atoms wide, 100,000
times smaller than the diameter of a human hair—they are going to become more
perfect.
"Perfect in the sense that their arrangement of atoms
in the real world will become more like an idealized model," says
University of Vermont engineer Frederic Sansoz, "with smaller crystals—in
for example, gold or copper—it's easier to have fewer defects in them."
And eliminating the defects at the interface separating two
crystals, or grains, has been shown by nanotechnology experts to be a powerful
strategy for making materials stronger, more easily molded, and less
electrically resistant—or a host of other qualities sought by designers and
manufacturers.