This article is an edited transcript based on the David Turnbull Lecture given by Ellen D. Williams of the University of Maryland on December 2, 2003, at the Materials Research Society Fall Meeting in Boston.Williams received the award for “groundbreaking research on the atomic-scale science of surfaces and for leadership, writing, teaching, and outreach that convey her deep understanding of and enthusiasm for materials research.” This article focuses on the special properties of small structures that provide much of the exciting potential of nanotechnology.One aspect of small structures—their susceptibility to thermal fluctuations—may create or necessitate new ways of exploiting nanostructures.The advent of scanned probe imaging techniques created new opportunities for observing and understanding such structural fluctuations and the related evolution of nanostructure.Direct observations show that it is relatively easy for large numbers of atoms—the kinds of numbers that are present in nanoscale structures—to pick up and move about on the surface cooperatively with substantial impact on nano-to micron-scale structures.Such labile evolution of structure can be predicted quantitatively by using length-scale bridging techniques of statistical mechanics coupled with scanned probe observations of structural and temporal distributions.The same measurements also provide direct information about the stochastic paths of structural fluctuations that can be used outside of the traditional thermodynamic framework.Future work involves moving beyond the classical thermodynamic picture to assess the impact that the stochastic behavior has on the physical properties of individual nanostructures.

In the microelectronic semiconductor world we are bombarded with reports of how the drive toward faster, denser, lower power-consuming and more reliable semiconductor products will accelerate with time. This paper discusses the instrumental evolution from visible light microscopy to scanning electron microscopy and on to transmission electron microscopy and scanned probe microscopy. The increased demands placed on specimen preparation of precise locations in a semiconductor chip for microscopy are discussed. Analytical microscopy has to be timely in order to be a viable adjunct to semiconductor manufacturing. The factors governing analysis of turn-around time are explained and an optimum strategy is suggested for effective utilization of finite laboratory resources. The new instrumentation available to the microscopist is introduced along with an overview of the exciting new analyses that will be available in the immediate future.