Editorial recent development in nanoscale manipulation and assembly

The use of nanomaterials in nanotechnological applications, and developments in nanoscale manipulation and assembly, are discussed. There are many nanoscale materials with unique mechanical, electrical, optical, and chemical properties which have a variety of potential applications in nanodevices, nanosensors, and nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS). The ability to manipulate the nanomaterials in a controllable manner is very critical to make these nanomaterials useful in nanotechnology. Nanomanipulation and nanoassembly are one of the important challenges in realizing the miniaturization of devices and machines potentially down to atomic and molecular sizes. The development of an automated microspotting system for rapid dielectrophoretic fabrication of bundled carbon nanotube sensors, provides a new method for using microfluidic and dielectrophoretic forces for nanoassembly.