1. Context

One of the most important objectives of nanoscience and nanotechnology is the miniaturization of information systems. Today's computers are an example of the miniaturization of electronic systems. This miniaturization of components for the construction of systems and machines used in everyday life is currently being achieved using a top-down approach. This approach, which leads physicists to manipulate or progressively transform small pieces of material using photolithography and associated techniques, has so far made remarkable progress. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that the top-down approach runs up against drastic limitations for dimensions smaller than 100 nm. Even if this dimension is very small for most experimenters, it remains very large on the scale of atoms and molecules.

An alternative, and the most promising strategy to be exploited in...