Posted by Pete Rimmer on 01/08/2021 11:41:07:
A gauge even if it could be made to 1nm tolerance would be useless. Using it one single time would put it out of tolerance.
Which is why the metre is defined in terms of wavelengths of light, not a physical lump of metal. Turns out copies of the last batch of physical metre standards are all measurably different now they've aged, and they are all changing size at different rates.
What's the smallest technology being made at the moment? I think it's transistors, the smallest of which at the moment are about 70 silicon atoms across, roughly 14 nanometres, but research is pushing hard to make them smaller.
Electronics are easier to miniaturise than mechanical mechanisms, but considerable progress has been made with them too. A major problem with mechanics is scaling nature – as model engineers know, you can't just scale everything by the same factor and expect it to work! Nonetheless, though of limited functionality, Nanobots are down to about 100nm in diameter. They're not made on a lathe or measured with micrometers and slip gauges!
Dave