Self-assembly
Definition
Structures that form themselves because the components' own interactions make the ordered arrangement the lowest-energy one.
At the nanoscale you cannot position pieces individually at any useful throughput, so the most precise structures in the field are the ones nobody positions at all. A lipid bilayer assembles because water forces it to; DNA origami folds a single strand into a designed shape by base-pairing alone.
Where this comes up
Articles that define self-assembly in context.
