View source for Picotechnology

{{For|the company|Pico Technology}}
{{short description|Technology at or below the scale of 10^−12 meters}}
{{Use American English|date = March 2019}}
{{multiple issues|
{{notability|date=November 2017}}
{{more citations needed|date=November 2017}}
}}

The term '''picotechnology''' is a [[portmanteau]] of [[picometre]] and [[technology]], intended to parallel the term [[nanotechnology]]. It is a hypothetical future level of technological manipulation of matter, on the scale of trillionths of a metre or picoscale (10<sup>&minus;12</sup>). This is three [[Order of magnitude|orders of magnitude]] smaller than a [[nanometre]] (and thus most [[nanotechnology]]) and two orders of magnitude smaller than most [[chemistry]] transformations and measurements. Picotechnology would involve the manipulation of matter at the [[atom]]ic level. A further hypothetical development, [[femtotechnology]], would involve working with matter at the subatomic level.

==Applications==
Picoscience is a term used by some [[Futures studies|futurists]] to refer to structuring of matter on a true picometre scale. Picotechnology was described as involving the alteration of the structure and chemical properties of individual atoms, typically through the manipulation of energy states of electrons within an atom to produce metastable (or otherwise stabilized) states with unusual properties, producing some form of [[exotic atom]]. Analogous transformations known to exist in the real world are [[redox chemistry]], which can manipulate the [[oxidation states]] of atoms; excitation of electrons to metastable [[excited state]]s as with [[laser]]s and some forms of [[saturable absorption]]; and the manipulation of the states of excited electrons in [[Rydberg atom]]s to encode information. However, none of these processes produces the types of exotic atoms described by futurists.

Alternatively, picotechnology is used by some researchers in [[nanotechnology]] to refer to the fabrication of structures where atoms and devices are positioned with sub-nanometre accuracy. This is important where interaction with a single atom or [[molecule]] is desired, because of the strength of the interaction between two atoms which are very close. For example, the force between an atom in an [[atomic force microscope]] probe tip and an atom in a sample being studied vary [[exponential function|exponentially]] with separation distance, and is sensitive to changes in position on the order of 50 to 100 picometres (due to [[Pauli exclusion]] at short ranges and [[van der Waals force]]s at long ranges).

==In popular culture==
The Chinese science fiction novel ''[[The Three-Body Problem (novel)|The Three-Body Problem]]'' features a plot-point in which an advanced alien civilization imbues individual protons with supercomputing powers and subsequently manipulates said protons via [[quantum entanglement]] (the fictional name for these proton-sized supercomputers is "sophons").<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thepacer.net/the-three-body-problem-review/|title=The Three-Body Problem: Review|publisher=The Pacer|author=Colby Anderson|date=8 January 2021 |accessdate=9 February 2021}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Femtotechnology]]
* [[IBM (atoms)|IBM in atoms]], a 1989 demonstration by [[IBM]] of a technology capable of manipulating individual atoms
* [[Technological singularity]]
* "[[There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom]]", a 1959 lecture by physicist [[Richard Feynman]] on the direct manipulation of individual atoms

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071210031053/http://www.cemes.fr/r2_rech/r2_sr2_gns/th1_3_pico.htm Picotechnology] at the [http://www.cemes.fr/GNS Nanosciences group] at [[:fr:CEMES - Centre d'élaboration de matériaux et d'études structurales|CEMES]] {{in lang|fr}}, France.

{{Levels of technological manipulation of matter}}
{{emerging technologies|topics=yes|robotics=yes|manufacture=yes|materials=yes}}

[[Category:Nanotechnology]]