Tech Talk
What is Nanotechnology?
Swiss invest big bucks in Tiny Technology By: Arthur Gill & Steve Krar Advanced Manufacturing’s contributing editors were recently invited to visit Switzerland for an extensive look at the research and developments taking place in the field of nanotechnology. What they found was a well educated workforce completely supported by all levels of government, industry, educational, and research institutes. The common goal was to make Switzerland the world leader in the research, development, and implementation of nanotechnology. Nanotechnology, microtechnology, nano-scale bioscience, is about the manipulating of very small things. The term nanotechnology now applies to the technology of controlling the structure of materials down to a few atoms or molecules. Nature is an example of the many possibilities of inter-weaving and using a wide range of processes, procedures and sequences in a minimum space. This scale is the nanometer, the millionth part of a millimeter or the thousandth part of a micrometer. “Size wise the atom is to the apple as the apple is to the globe of the world.” Everything that takes place on this scale and is combined with macroproducts and macroprocesses in special ways. There are many problems where nature comes up with a more elegant, efficient, and successful solution that we can at the present day with out highly complex instruments and powerful processors. We must therefore observe nature from this viewpoint and allow ourselves to be inspired by biological solutions to successfully reproduce such solutions. Nature serves as an example for the sensor, which is often also a processor, for the sensible use of materials, the restricted consumption of energy and adapted data processing. Nanotechnology is the method nature uses to solve her problems. In the future we must be able to solve problems on this scale. Nanotechnology Research The possibility of manipulating molecules of materials raises the potential for pollution-free manufacturing and nanorobots reproducing themselves in the next ten to twenty years. The United States and Switzerland are two of the key countries in the world with major research programs focusing on the applications of nanotechnology in areas such as biomedicine, molecular computing, microelectronics, next-generation data storage devices, and the manufacturing of most consumer products. Already under development are biofactories-on-a-chip. These miniature devices use microelectrodes to generate electric fields, making it possible to move, manipulate, identify and characterize cells and particles on the basis of their electrical properties. Molecular biology and biotechnology will require new high-precision analysis and diagnostic equipment for futher research. This poses the question: Are there limits to miniaturization? Can components consisting of just a few or even a single atom be created? There are proposals for an atom switch and an atom relay. In both approaches individual atoms are moved over interatomic distances in very short periods, thus changing the current-voltage characteristic of the switch or the electrical contact of the nanowire. Advances in process technologies such as coatings, replication and microrobots will pave the way to the industrial applications of nanotechnology. Major companies, governments, research centers, and universities are supplying the resources required to become leaders in specific fields and share in the economic rewards that then result. Investments in Nanotechnology · In 2002, the U.S. government allocated nearly $1 billion dollars for nanotechnology research for the National Science Foundation, Department of Defence, Department of Energy, and other government agencies; · Switzerland, a relatively small country in comparison to the United States, annually grants more than $16.7 million U.S. dollars for nanotechnology and related research projects. On a per capita basis, Switzerland’s commitment is the highest in the world. · Major corporations in the United States and Switzerland such as IBM, HP, and DOW are investing hundreds of millions of dollars, convinced that an early lead could produce big financial gains for the next twenty years. Arthur Gill and Steve Krar are regular contributors to Advanced Manufacturing magazine
