Editorial [ Hot Topic: Nanomechanics (Guest Editors: Atsushi Ikai, Alastair Smith and Masaru Tsukada)]

In this special issue of Current Nanoscience, ten invited reviews on nanomechanics of atomic and molecular systems written by expert scholars in respective fields are presented. Driven by rapid advancement both on experimental and theoretical fronts, the interest of nano-oriented scientists and engineers is now focused on elucidating precise mechanisms of the rate altering effect of externally applied force on the atomic and molecular processes which are otherwise very slow or very rare. Acceleration or deceleration of such processes in bulk materials can be achieved by changing the external parameters such as temperature or pressure but a prominent aspect of the new nanoscience is in the manipulation of individual atoms and molecules by human hands through application of force. The development of instruments such as probe microscopes and laser tweezers, among others, has enabled us to perform such experiments with unprecedented levels of precision reaching subnanometers and sub-nanonewtons in many cases. With these instruments and at these analytical scales, there is a commonality of language between researchers in different disciplines of science and engineering and many are now starting to understand the problems and achievements in otherwise distantly related fields, and importing new terminology in a much easier manner than before. Our attempt to collate expert reviews on nanoscience from diverse disciplines covering theoretical, physical, chemical and biological problems is now, therefore, made possible and it will hopefully provide a useful resource for researchers and students in a wide range of disciplines. It is the wish of the guest editors that this special issue be a catalyst for understanding the contributions made by a wide range of disciplines to the study of nanomechanics of atoms and molecules.