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Why are nanowires also called quantum wires?
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nanotechnology
Examples from biological and mechanical realms illustrate various “orders of magnitude” (powers of 10), from 10−2 meter down to 10−7 meter.
Nanowires are referred to as quantum wires because their extremely small dimensions—typically 100 nanometers or less in diameter—cause them to display quantum mechanical phenomena. These are the unique behaviors exhibited by matter and light at the atomic and subatomic scale, which become prominent when structures are confined to the nanoscale.1