Nanotechnology - What is nanotechnology?

and welcome to the Nanotechnology website. Nanotechnology is not only a buzz word for research scientists trying to obtain government funding nanotechnology covers an emerging set of tools, techniques and unique applications . The term nanotechnology is often defined in Europe as "the direct control of atoms and molecules" for materials and devices. Nanotechnology materials are measured in nanometers (nm), derived from "nano" the Greek word for a small person, a nanometre is a millionth of a millimeter (1x10^-9 m) or about how much your fingernails grow each second.

The concept of nanotechnology was first proposed by the Nobel laureate Richard P. Feynman in 1959 in an after dinner speech at the Annual Meeting of the American Physical Society. Feynman remarked that "the principles of physics, as far as I can see, do not speak against the possibility of maneuvering things atom by atom. It is not an attempt to break any laws; it is something, in principle, that can be done; but in practice, it has not been done because we are too big." Fenman added that atomic-level manipulation was "a development which I think cannot be avoided." The full transcript is available here.

It was a few decades until the term nanotechnology was coined by Norio Taniguchi in 1974 at the University of Tokyo whose definition still stands: "Nano-technology" mainly consists of the processing of separation, consolidation, and deformation of materials by one atom or one molecule."

The basic concepts of nanotechnology were later defined by Eric Drexler when he published a paper in 1981. Drexler has also written several books on the subject of nanotechnology including Engines of Creation and Nanosystems. Drexler also co-founded the nonprofit organization The Foresight Institute whose focus is the science of nanotechnology and its effect on society.

Nanotechnology - Atoms, God's building bricks
As stated previously the concept of nanotechnology is the manipulation of atoms. All matter in the universe consists of atoms. Atoms are essentially God's building bricks. Your body was created by combining atoms to form molecules, which were then combined to form living cells. These living cells are biological nanomachines.

The manufacture of consumer goods is not at the same level of nanotechnology sophistication yet but at some point in the next few decades through the development of nanotechnology we will be able to create all manner of objects through the manipulation of individual atoms. This is the basic philosophy of nanotechnology or molecular nanotechnology as it is often known.

Nanotechnology - Nanomachines
The basic idea of nanotechnology is to use a little bit of chemistry with a little bit of engineering, little being the operative word. You can fit atoms and molecules together because they have shapes that lock together like a jigsaw or if they have opposite charges they will be attracted to each other. Nanomachines will stick millions of these atoms and molecules together to form all sorts of objects.

Nanotechnology - What we need to achieve before nanotechnology really takes off
To enable the commercial use of nanotechnology to become widespread three nanotechnology milestones need to have been achieved.

• We need to move individual atoms - First scientists must be able to move individual atoms to the correct positions. In 1990 researchers at IBM managed to do just that. They spelled out "IBM" using xenon atoms on the surface of a nickel crystal using an atomic force microscope, AFM. An example of such a nanoscale logo can be viewed here.

• Nanotechnology "assemblers" - The next step is to develop nanomachines called assemblers controlled by an onboard computer that would use chemical reactions combined with precise location control to produce materials by moving atoms and molecules to their correct locations. Trillions of these assemblers would be needed to develop consumer products in a useful time frame.

• Nanotechnology "replicators" - Assemblers, if supplied with materials and energy, will be able to build almost anything, including more assemblers. These assemblers will be called replicators and will be needed to manufacture a sufficient number of assemblers.

However it may be possible to build objects using nanotechnology in monolithic factories containing huge numbers of assembly stations instead of assemblers. Whether the widespread use of nanotechnology in manufacturing is achieved using assemblers or assembly stations eventually all traditional manufacturing methods will be replaced.

Nanotechnology - A brief history of nanotechnology to date
Since Richard P. Feynman first suggested the possibility of manipulating atoms to create objects new nanomaterials have been developed such as cylindrical nanotubes consisting of carbon atoms. These were developed in 1991 by a researcher, Dr. Sumio Iijima, at the electronics maker NEC Corp and are now in use in applications such as sports stadium flood lights. Actual consumer products have now come to market that contain components with nanoscale features such as CD players, sensors and inkjet printers.

Other nanotechnology products at or near market include medicines that only become active when they reach an allocated position in the body, lighter, stronger materials for aerospace and automotive applications, sun block creams with UV blocking nanoparticles and "smart" food packaging that tells you when the food is no longer fresh.

Nanotechnology - International governments' reaction
Despite many industry and government financed studies into whether nanotechnology should be a priority for technological funding international governments were hesitant to allocate substantial funding for nanotechnology research and development until 2000. In 2000 President Bill Clinton announced $500 million worth of funding in support of the U.S. government's investment in nanotechnology research and development. This was a rise of 84% in comparison to 2001 and included the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI). A White House statement at the time said that "nanotechnology is the new frontier and its potential impact is compelling."

The Japanese government soon followed suit in 2001 by establishing the Expert Group on Nanotechnology under the Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanran) Committee on Industrial Technology.

In Europe individual nations started to set up university / industry / government collaborations to investigate the use of nanotechnology. Recently Europe's research funding body allocated funds from the EU's Framework Programme towards the creation of a new pan-European nanotechnology "network of networks" called Nanoforum led by the Insitute of Nanotechnology. Within the UK the government has allocated around £100 million to develop nanotechnology over the next five years and a further £200 million is likely to be invested by the private sector in the same period.

Nanotechnology - The next industrial revolution
Much of the research funded by these government nanotechnology initiatives will probably take more than 20 years to come to commercial fruition, however the development process may spark the next industrial revolution. It is probable that the development of nanotechnology will substantially change the manufacturing process of almost every product. Whatever happens nanotechnology is likely to be the human race's greatest scientific achievement to date and will completely change all our lives.

To find out more information about nanotechnology applications, possible nanotechnology affected futures, government papers on nanotechnology, nanotechnology pictures and videos and links to other nanotechnology websites click the purple links or use the menu at the top of the page.

The picture at the top of the page shows a dust mite next to a MicroElectroMechanical Systems, MEMS, device, which are measured in micrometres (1000X larger than nanometres). Hence MEMS cannot be classed as nanotechnology devices, the picture was used for effect to go with the "small is beautiful" tag line. However MEMS are are of interest and this and other MEMS pictures can be viewed at the Sandia National Laboratories website http://mems.sandia.gov/scripts/images.asp