Detailed History of Nanotechnology
History of Nanotechnology
The foundations of nanotechnology have emerged over many decades of research in many different fields.
Nanotechnology has been employed for thousands of years, for example in making steel and in vulcanizing rubber. Both of these processes rely on the properties of stochastically-formed atomic ensembles mere nanometers in size, and are distinguished from chemistry in that they don't rely on the properties of individual molecules.
The first mention of some of the distinguishing concepts in nanotechnology (but predating use of that name) was in 1867 by James Clerk Maxwell when he proposed as a thought experiment of a tiny entity to handle individual molecules.
In the 1920's, Irving Langmuir and Katharine B. Blodgett introduced the concept of a monolayer, a layer of material one molecule thick for which Langmuir won a Nobel Prize in chemistry. (aumsri.sulekha.com).
According to Robert Floyd Curl, Jr., Nobel Prize Winner in Chemistry in 1996, Indian craftsmen used nanotechnology in Wootz steel as well as in paintings. More specifically carbon nanotubes, first announced by Russian scientists in 1952, was found in the sword of Tipu Sultan as well as in Ajanta paintings. Carbon nanotubes which are cylidrical fullerenes have extraordinary strength in terms of tensile strength and elastic modulus. Our ancestors have been using the technology for over 2,000 years and carbon nano for about 500 years. Carbon nanotechnology is much older than carbon nanoscience.
The first use of the concepts in 'nano-technology' (but predating use of that name) was in "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom," a talk given by physicist and chemist Richard Feynman at an American Physical Society meeting at Caltech on 1959. Feynman described a process by which the ability to manipulate individual atoms and molecules might be developed, using one set of precise tools to build and operate another proportionally smaller set, so on down to the needed scale.(Varnam.org).
Feynman announced two challenges. The first challenge involved the construction of a nanomotor, which, to Feynman's surprise, was achieved by November of 1960 by William McLellan. The second challenge involved the possibility of scaling down letters small enough so as to be able to fit the entire Encyclopedia Britannica on the head of a pin. (Wikipedia).
In the late 1970's, Eric Drexler began to invent what would become molecular manufacturing.
Also in 1974 the process of atomic layer deposition, for depositing uniform thin films one atomic layer at a time, was developed and patented by Dr. Tuomo Suntola and co-workers in Finland.
Nanotechnology and nanoscience got a boost in the early 1980s with two major developments: the birth of cluster science and the invention of the scanning tunneling microscope (STM). by IBM Corporation.
Other notable milestones that enabled nanotechnology as we know it today were the development of the atomic force microscope in 1985 (www.industryweek.com)
This development of STM led to the discovery of fullerenes in 1986. In another development, the synthesis and properties of semiconductor nanocrystals were studied. This led to a fast increasing number of semiconductor nanoparticles of quantum dots.
In 1989 IBM scientists in Zurich, using the tip of a scanning tunneling microscope, demonstrated that it is possible to precisely position 35 xenon atoms to spell "IBM."
During 1991 a significant new nanomaterial called carbon nanotubes which is a tiny cylinder of carbon atoms was discovered,. Cages of carbon called Buckminsterfullerene or buckyballs was discovered at the Universities of Arizona and Heidelberg. Sumio Lijino, a researcher at Japan, found there was more to the carbon than graphite, diamonds or the 60 atom buckyballs.
By 1992, Drexler was using "molecular nanotechnology" or "molecular manufacturing" to distinguish his manufacturing ideas from the simpler product-focused and continued to claim the term "nanotechnology”.
The first nanotube-based transistors appeared in 1998, followed by IBM's (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) discovery of the “quantum mirage” effect in 2000, which employed the wave nature of electrons instead of conventional wiring to enable data transfer within nanoscale electronic circuits too small to use wires.
National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) instead of focusing on molecular manufacturing funded nanoscale technology research.
Functional logic circuits and a ring oscillator built from discrete nanotube transistors first appeared in 2001. World's smallest solid-state light emitter built on a CNT appeared in 2003.
A published debate between Drexler and Nobelist chemist Richard Smalley in December 2003 illustrated a tone of controversy.
In 2005, using DNA molecules as scaffolds, scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign created superconducting nanodevices that demonstrated a new type of quantum interference. 2006 saw the demonstration of a five-stage, 10-transistor ring oscillator built as an IC on a single nanotube, and the introduction of the nano¬SQUID, a superconducting quantum interference device made with NTs.(www.industryweek.com).
2007 practice of nanotechnology embraces both stochastic approaches (in which, for example, supramolecular chemistry creates waterproof pants) and deterministic approaches wherein single molecules (created by stochastic chemistry) are manipulated on substrate surfaces (created by stochastic deposition methods) by deterministic methods comprising nudging them with STM or AFM probes and causing simple binding or cleavage reactions to occur. The dream of a complex, deterministic molecular nanotechnology remains elusive.
American car manufacturers have used nanotubes to improve the safety of fuel-lines in passenger vehicles and the electronics industry uses nanotubes in its packaging material to better protect goods and to aid the removal of any electrical charges before they can build to disruptive levels.
In the electronics world, only a few products made with CNTs are now available. Some early CNT sensors, probe tips and transparent conductive films are on the market, with more developed versions soon to come. Developers also now say more complex CNT-based memory chips; field emission devices and thermal management materials could be available within the next few years. Most off-the-shelf CNTs are instead going into what may be called novel applications. The world's first sailboat mast using CNT was made with NanoSolve materials by Zyvex Corp. to improve yacht performance by significantly increasing the strength and stiffness of the mast without adding weight.
The potential for more broad-based nanotechnology applications will come from a better understanding of how particles operate on a nanoscale and how biological and non-biological particles can be integrated - research and development continues in these fields and many others. There is still a way to go before we fully understand the workings and potential applications of the assembly of atoms and how to make these processes scalable, profitable and standardised (and therefore able to produce predictable and consistent outputs).
Around US$2 billion is being invested annually in nanotechnology developments around the world, with nearly 40% of this in the USA. Japan is a major contributor, as are the European Governments and major industrial economies such as Singapore, Taiwan, China, Korea and European countries including Scotland and the Netherlands have also played influential roles in the development of nanotechnology capabilities and the technology continues to be of world-wide interest (www.azonano.com).
What is sold today as “nanotechnology” is in fact a recasting of straightforward materials science, which is leading to a “nanotech industry built solely on selling nanotubes, nanowires and the like,” which will “end up with a few suppliers selling low-margin products in huge volumes.”
By 2014, according to a recent report from Lux Research (New York), $2.6T in global manufactured goods will incorporate nanotechnology (www.semiconductor.net).
The foundations of nanotechnology have emerged over many decades of research in many different fields.
Nanotechnology has been employed for thousands of years, for example in making steel and in vulcanizing rubber. Both of these processes rely on the properties of stochastically-formed atomic ensembles mere nanometers in size, and are distinguished from chemistry in that they don't rely on the properties of individual molecules.
The first mention of some of the distinguishing concepts in nanotechnology (but predating use of that name) was in 1867 by James Clerk Maxwell when he proposed as a thought experiment of a tiny entity to handle individual molecules.
In the 1920's, Irving Langmuir and Katharine B. Blodgett introduced the concept of a monolayer, a layer of material one molecule thick for which Langmuir won a Nobel Prize in chemistry. (aumsri.sulekha.com).
According to Robert Floyd Curl, Jr., Nobel Prize Winner in Chemistry in 1996, Indian craftsmen used nanotechnology in Wootz steel as well as in paintings. More specifically carbon nanotubes, first announced by Russian scientists in 1952, was found in the sword of Tipu Sultan as well as in Ajanta paintings. Carbon nanotubes which are cylidrical fullerenes have extraordinary strength in terms of tensile strength and elastic modulus. Our ancestors have been using the technology for over 2,000 years and carbon nano for about 500 years. Carbon nanotechnology is much older than carbon nanoscience.
The first use of the concepts in 'nano-technology' (but predating use of that name) was in "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom," a talk given by physicist and chemist Richard Feynman at an American Physical Society meeting at Caltech on 1959. Feynman described a process by which the ability to manipulate individual atoms and molecules might be developed, using one set of precise tools to build and operate another proportionally smaller set, so on down to the needed scale.(Varnam.org).
Feynman announced two challenges. The first challenge involved the construction of a nanomotor, which, to Feynman's surprise, was achieved by November of 1960 by William McLellan. The second challenge involved the possibility of scaling down letters small enough so as to be able to fit the entire Encyclopedia Britannica on the head of a pin. (Wikipedia).
In the late 1970's, Eric Drexler began to invent what would become molecular manufacturing.
Also in 1974 the process of atomic layer deposition, for depositing uniform thin films one atomic layer at a time, was developed and patented by Dr. Tuomo Suntola and co-workers in Finland.
Nanotechnology and nanoscience got a boost in the early 1980s with two major developments: the birth of cluster science and the invention of the scanning tunneling microscope (STM). by IBM Corporation.
Other notable milestones that enabled nanotechnology as we know it today were the development of the atomic force microscope in 1985 (www.industryweek.com)
This development of STM led to the discovery of fullerenes in 1986. In another development, the synthesis and properties of semiconductor nanocrystals were studied. This led to a fast increasing number of semiconductor nanoparticles of quantum dots.
In 1989 IBM scientists in Zurich, using the tip of a scanning tunneling microscope, demonstrated that it is possible to precisely position 35 xenon atoms to spell "IBM."
During 1991 a significant new nanomaterial called carbon nanotubes which is a tiny cylinder of carbon atoms was discovered,. Cages of carbon called Buckminsterfullerene or buckyballs was discovered at the Universities of Arizona and Heidelberg. Sumio Lijino, a researcher at Japan, found there was more to the carbon than graphite, diamonds or the 60 atom buckyballs.
By 1992, Drexler was using "molecular nanotechnology" or "molecular manufacturing" to distinguish his manufacturing ideas from the simpler product-focused and continued to claim the term "nanotechnology”.
The first nanotube-based transistors appeared in 1998, followed by IBM's (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) discovery of the “quantum mirage” effect in 2000, which employed the wave nature of electrons instead of conventional wiring to enable data transfer within nanoscale electronic circuits too small to use wires.
National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) instead of focusing on molecular manufacturing funded nanoscale technology research.
Functional logic circuits and a ring oscillator built from discrete nanotube transistors first appeared in 2001. World's smallest solid-state light emitter built on a CNT appeared in 2003.
A published debate between Drexler and Nobelist chemist Richard Smalley in December 2003 illustrated a tone of controversy.
In 2005, using DNA molecules as scaffolds, scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign created superconducting nanodevices that demonstrated a new type of quantum interference. 2006 saw the demonstration of a five-stage, 10-transistor ring oscillator built as an IC on a single nanotube, and the introduction of the nano¬SQUID, a superconducting quantum interference device made with NTs.(www.industryweek.com).
2007 practice of nanotechnology embraces both stochastic approaches (in which, for example, supramolecular chemistry creates waterproof pants) and deterministic approaches wherein single molecules (created by stochastic chemistry) are manipulated on substrate surfaces (created by stochastic deposition methods) by deterministic methods comprising nudging them with STM or AFM probes and causing simple binding or cleavage reactions to occur. The dream of a complex, deterministic molecular nanotechnology remains elusive.
American car manufacturers have used nanotubes to improve the safety of fuel-lines in passenger vehicles and the electronics industry uses nanotubes in its packaging material to better protect goods and to aid the removal of any electrical charges before they can build to disruptive levels.
In the electronics world, only a few products made with CNTs are now available. Some early CNT sensors, probe tips and transparent conductive films are on the market, with more developed versions soon to come. Developers also now say more complex CNT-based memory chips; field emission devices and thermal management materials could be available within the next few years. Most off-the-shelf CNTs are instead going into what may be called novel applications. The world's first sailboat mast using CNT was made with NanoSolve materials by Zyvex Corp. to improve yacht performance by significantly increasing the strength and stiffness of the mast without adding weight.
The potential for more broad-based nanotechnology applications will come from a better understanding of how particles operate on a nanoscale and how biological and non-biological particles can be integrated - research and development continues in these fields and many others. There is still a way to go before we fully understand the workings and potential applications of the assembly of atoms and how to make these processes scalable, profitable and standardised (and therefore able to produce predictable and consistent outputs).
Around US$2 billion is being invested annually in nanotechnology developments around the world, with nearly 40% of this in the USA. Japan is a major contributor, as are the European Governments and major industrial economies such as Singapore, Taiwan, China, Korea and European countries including Scotland and the Netherlands have also played influential roles in the development of nanotechnology capabilities and the technology continues to be of world-wide interest (www.azonano.com).
What is sold today as “nanotechnology” is in fact a recasting of straightforward materials science, which is leading to a “nanotech industry built solely on selling nanotubes, nanowires and the like,” which will “end up with a few suppliers selling low-margin products in huge volumes.”
By 2014, according to a recent report from Lux Research (New York), $2.6T in global manufactured goods will incorporate nanotechnology (www.semiconductor.net).
