Glossary of terms used on NANO Magazine

D

Dendrimer

A dendrimer is an artificially manufactured or synthesized large molecule comprised of many smaller ones linked together - built up from branched units called monomers. Technically, dendrimers are a unique class of a polymer, about the size of an average protein, with a compact, tree-like molecular structure, which provides a high degree of surface functionality and versatility. The shape of dendrimers give them vast amounts of surface area, making them useful building blocks and carrier molecules at the nanoscale and they come in a variety of forms, with different physical (including optical, electrical and chemical) properties. For example, dendrimers can act as biologically active carrier molecules in drug delivery to which can be attached therapeutic agents and as scavengers of metal ions, offering the potential for environmental clean-up operations because their size allows them to be filtered out with ultra-filtration techniques.

Diode

A diode is a specialized electronic component with two electrodes called the anode and the cathode. Most diodes are made with semiconductor materials such as silicon, germanium, or selenium. Diodes can be used as rectifiers, signal limiters, voltage regulators, switches, signal modulators, signal mixers, signal demodulators, and oscillators.

Dip pen nanolithography

A direct-write soft lithography technique that is used to create nanostructures on a substrate of interest by delivering collections of molecules via capillary transport from an AFM tip to a surface.

DNA

DeoxyriboNucleic Acid. DNA is a code used within cells to form proteins.

DRAM

Dynamic random access memory.