Showing posts with label Nanotechnology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nanotechnology. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 3, 2018

Cornell University fabricate cell-sized origami robots by an ALD & graphene nanotechnology

Cornell University reports that one of their researcher teams has made a robot exoskeleton that can rapidly change its shape upon sensing chemical or thermal changes in its environment. And, they claim, these microscale machines – equipped with electronic, photonic and chemical payloads – could become a powerful platform for robotics at the size scale of biological microorganisms. Their work is outlined in “Graphene-based Bimorphs for Micron-sized, Autonomous Origami Machines,” published Jan. 2 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Miskin is lead author; other contributors included David Muller, the Samuel B. Eckert Professor of Engineering, and doctoral students Kyle Dorsey, Baris Bircan and Yimo Han. [Graphene-based bimorphs for micron-sized, autonomous origami machines. Marc Z. Miskin et al (2018), PNAS https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1712889115 ]

Please check out this interview video for more amazing details - some snapshots are given below in  the form of screen dumps from vimeo [LINK]
 
 
 
The bimorph is built using atomic layer deposition of atomically thin layers (2 nm) of silicon dioxide onto aluminum over a cover slip – then wet-transferring a single atomic layer of graphene on top of the stack. The result is the thinnest bimorph ever made. [Vimeo Screen dump]
 

Processing has been taken place in Cornell University Clean room - Cornell NanoScale Facility for Science and Technology, here showing the ALD reactor and rpocessing of the SiO2 layer (Oxford Instruments, FlexAl) [Vimeo Screen dump]


The researchers can fabricate many different forms of origami shapes ranging from simple tetrahedrons to cubes and helix shaped objects [Vimeo Screen dump]
 

 
With this new amazing technology, the Cornell rersearchers are developing robotic ‘exoskeleton’ for electronics with integrated microchips. [Vimeo Screen dump]
 
 
 

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Solar cells of the future could be based on iron molecules

Researchers at Lund University - NanoLund - have successfully explained how iron-based dyes work on a molecular level in solar cells. The new findings will accelerate the development of inexpensive and environmentally friendly solar cells.
 
 
The goal is to be able to use iron-based dyes in solar cells in the future. By using iron instead of other more expensive and rare metals, the production of solar cells and light catchers will become cheaper and more environmentally friendly. The demand for solar cells is therefore expected to significantly increase.


“In this new study, we explain how iron-based dyes work on a molecular level. That way we are able to further improve these iron complexes so that they become even better at absorbing and storing solar energy”, says senior lecturer Petter Persson.

Directing Matter: Toward Atomic-Scale 3D Nanofabrication

Here is a new review article on atomic scale 3D nanofabrication by researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. You can find a full review of the article by Michael Berger in Nanowerk here.

Directing Matter: Toward Atomic-Scale 3D Nanofabrication

Stephen Jesse, Albina Y. Borisevich, Jason D. Fowlkes, Andrew R. Lupini, Philip D. Rack, Raymond R. Unocic, Bobby G. Sumpter, Sergei V. Kalinin, Alex Belianinov, and Olga S. Ovchinnikova
ACS Nano, Article ASAP
DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.6b02489
Publication Date (Web): May 16, 2016




Enabling memristive, neuromorphic, and quantum-based computing as well as efficient mainstream energy storage and conversion technologies requires the next generation of materials customized at the atomic scale. This requires full control of atomic arrangement and bonding in three dimensions. The last two decades witnessed substantial industrial, academic, and government research efforts directed toward this goal through various lithographies and scanning-probe-based methods. These technologies emphasize 2D surface structures, with some limited 3D capability. Recently, a range of focused electron- and ion-based methods have demonstrated compelling alternative pathways to achieving atomically precise manufacturing of 3D structures in solids, liquids, and at interfaces. Electron and ion microscopies offer a platform that can simultaneously observe dynamic and static structures at the nano- and atomic scales and also induce structural rearrangements and chemical transformation. The addition of predictive modeling or rapid image analytics and feedback enables guiding these in a controlled manner. Here, we review the recent results that used focused electron and ion beams to create free-standing nanoscale 3D structures, radiolysis, and the fabrication potential with liquid precursors, epitaxial crystallization of amorphous oxides with atomic layer precision, as well as visualization and control of individual dopant motion within a 3D crystal lattice. These works lay the foundation for approaches to directing nanoscale level architectures and offer a potential roadmap to full 3D atomic control in materials. In this paper, we lay out the gaps that currently constrain the processing range of these platforms, reflect on indirect requirements, such as the integration of large-scale data analysis with theory, and discuss future prospects of these technologies.

Friday, March 25, 2016

Lund Univeristy in Sweden moves ahead with Phase 1 for the Nano Pilot Production facility - ProNano

Lund University, Sweden, is the largest university in the Nordic Countries situated across the bridge from Copenhagen. ProNano is a pilot study of the market potential for a pilot production facility for nanotechnology and nano materials in Lund. The facility is aimed at researchers and companies wants to develop pilot production and products with industry standard, without having to invest in expensive equipment by themselves.


The project was initiated by NanoLund at Lund University, Sweden and is conducted in collaboration with Lund University, Region Skåne, RISE and Medicon Village with representation from industry, academia and authorities and Yvonne Mårtensson, former CEO Cellavision AB is the project manager of ProNano. This week the next steps have been announced by a press release from Lund University.
Science Village Scandinavia will consist of buildings aimed at research facilities, research institutes, research institutes for Lund University and other universities, companies related to innovation and research, a Science Centre and Business Centre, premises for laboratories, administration, service and accommodation (http://sciencevillage.com/)
Prof. Lars Samuelson, founder of NanoLund and the nanowire growth research and also founder of a number of spin-off companies and the driver of commercialization of nano materials at Lund University stated: "An effort for the industrialization of nano materials in Lund is a natural result of the world leading materials research with the establishment of a number of companies where the research is channeled all the way to the market". As a note for the readers here, Prof. Samuelson is the Keynote Speaker of ALD 2016 in Dublin, Ireland 24-27th of July.

Prof. Lars Samuelson (left) and Prof. Heiner Linke (right), the founder resp. the Director of NanoLund.
Prof. Heiner Linke, Director of NanoLund added "The goal with ProNano is to create a vertical integrated system around Swedish nanotechnology that stretches from education through basic and applied research all the way to production. The vision is to realize the foundation for a Swedish industry based on advanced nano materials"


The regional authorities of Skåne (Region Skåne, Southern part of Sweden part of greater Copenhagen) has now decided to fund the project ProNano Phase 1 with additional funds of 4 million SEK for 2016 and 2017.

Pontus Linberg (regional conservative politician) put it in a context by saying: "The world class infrastructure of ESS and MAX IV currently being constructed in Lund has to be followed up by additional support for the foundation for business development and commercialization. ProNano will be the first bid establishment of infrastructure placed between MaxIV and ESS. ProNano will be targeting developing existing and new companies and is a natural and highly important part of the push for smart materials."

The Region of Skåne will except for financially supporting ProNano facilitate the process and connect the player on the nano materials and nano technology arena.

The recently published white paper can be downloaded here (in Swedish)

Monday, December 14, 2015

MIT Microscope creates near-real-time videos of nanoscale processes [VIDEO]

This would be cool to see tested in an ALD or ALE type process. MIT Reports on Youtube: Engineers at MIT have designed an atomic force microscope that scans images 2,000 times faster than existing commercial models.

Left to right, Fangzhou Xia, a new lab member who was not involved in the study; professor Kamal Youcef-Toumi; and postdoc Iman Soltani Bozchalooi.(Photo: Jose-Luis Olivares/MIT)

Thursday, October 15, 2015

Electrical and thermal conduction in ultra-thin freestanding ALD tungsten nanobridges

The long term master of ALD and especially W/Al2O3 laminates S.M. George and his ALD team in Boulder, Colorado have now manufactured one of the most amazing bridges that I have ever seen and it has electrical and thermal conduction as well!
 
 

Electrical and thermal conduction in ultra-thin freestanding atomic layer deposited W nanobridges 

Nathan T. Eigenfeld, Jonas C. Gertsch, George D. Skidmore, Steven M. George, Victor M. Bright

Nanoscale, 2015, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C5NR04885K, Paper

Work presented here measures and interprets the electrical and thermal conductivities of atomic layer deposited (ALD) free-standing single film and periodic tungsten and aluminum oxide nanobridges with thicknesses from ∼5–20 nm and ∼3–13 nm, respectively. Electrical conductivity of the W films is reduced by up to 99% from bulk, while thermal conductivity is reduced by up to 91%. Results indicate phonon contribution to thermal conductivity is dominant in these ALD films and may be substantially reduced by the incorporation of periodicity in the ALD W/Al2O3 nanolaminates. Additionally, thin film conduction modeling demonstrates nano-structured grain features largely dictate electron and phonon conduction in ALD W. New fabrication methods have allowed for the development of free-standing ultra-thin structures with layers on the order of several nanometers utilizing ALD. While the literature contains diverse studies of the physical properties of thin films prepared by traditional micro-fabrication sputtering or chemical vapor deposition techniques, there remains little data on freestanding structures containing ALD generated materials. Specifically, knowledge of the electrical and thermal conductivity of ALD generated materials will aid in the future development of ultra-thin nano-devices.

Saturday, June 13, 2015

Plasmonic nanostructures for color filtering and nano printing technologies

This is pretty cool technology coming out of Missouri University of Science and Technology and Sandia National Laboratories. Structural color filtering and printing technologies employing plasmonic nanostructures have recently been recognized as an important and beneficial complement to the traditional colorant-based pigmentation. In this demonstration a PVD stack of 100 nm silver / 45 nm SiO2 / 25 nm silver is used. The complete stack is deposited on a Kurt J. Lesker PVD tool and final protection by thin oxide. 

Check out Prof. Xiaodong Yang, at Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Missouri University of Science and Technology for more interesting nano structures like Photonic crystals and photonic crystal cavities

Structural color printing based on plasmonic metasurfaces of perfect light absorption (Open Access)

Fei Cheng, Jie Gao, Ting S. Luk & Xiaodong Yang
Scientific Reports 5, Article number: 11045 doi:10.1038/srep11045 
Published 05 June 2015



(a) Schematic view of four unit cells for triangular-lattice circular hole arrays fabricated on the silver-silica-silver three layer structure. (b) An example of SEM cross-section image of the metasurface structure with period (P) of 320 nm and hole radius (r) of 100 nm. (c–e) SEM images of three metasurfaces with different lattice geometrical parameters (c: P = 130 nm, r = 35 nm; d: P = 200 nm, r = 50 nm; e: P = 260 nm, r = 65 nm). Insets: Optical reflection microscopy images of the entire 20 × 20 μm2 circular hole arrays of triangular lattice. Scale bars: 500 nm.

Abstract
Subwavelength structural color filtering and printing technologies employing plasmonic nanostructures have recently been recognized as an important and beneficial complement to the traditional colorant-based pigmentation. However, the color saturation, brightness and incident angle tolerance of structural color printing need to be improved to meet the application requirement. Here we demonstrate a structural color printing method based on plasmonic metasurfaces of perfect light absorption to improve color performances such as saturation and brightness. Thin-layer perfect absorbers with periodic hole arrays are designed at visible frequencies and the absorption peaks are tuned by simply adjusting the hole size and periodicity. Near perfect light absorption with high quality factors are obtained to realize high-resolution, angle-insensitive plasmonic color printing with high color saturation and brightness. Moreover, the fabricated metasurfaces can be protected with a protective coating for ambient use without degrading performances. The demonstrated structural color printing platform offers great potential for applications ranging from security marking to information storage.



(a) The original athletics mark image adapted with permission from The Curators of the University of Missouri. (b) SEM image of the fabricated pattern containing six different triangular lattices and corresponding colors shown in panel e. (c) SEM image of the area outlined in panel f. (d) Optical microscopy image of a plasmonic reproduction of the original mark image shown in panel e, containing only yellow and green colors. (e) Optical microscopy image of the plasmonic print presenting another four distinct colors (symbol ‘&’: orange, character ‘S, T’: magenta, pickaxe shape: cyan and word ‘MISSOURI’: navy blue) besides two original colors shown in panel d. Scale bars: 10 μm (b, d and e); 2 μm (c).



Note: The article has been distributed under a Creative Commons CC-BY license (please see the article itself for the license version number). You may reuse this material without obtaining permission from Nature Publishing Group

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Researchers at Rice University make ultrasensitive conductivity measurements

Here is a very interesting report that might indeed be interesting to characterize ALD growth in-situ ultra fast at optical frequencies!

(Nanowerk News) Researchers at Rice University have discovered a new way to make ultrasensitive conductivity measurements at optical frequencies on high-speed nanoscale electronic components.The research at Rice's Laboratory for Nanophotonics (LANP) is described online in a new study in the American Chemical Society's journal ACS Nano ("Charge Transfer Plasmons: Optical Frequency Conductances and Tunable Infrared Resonances"). In a series of experiments, LANP researchers linked pairs of puck-shaped metal nanodisks with metallic nanowires and showed how the flow of current at optical frequencies through the nanowires produced "charge transfer plasmons" with unique optical signatures.



Linked pairs of nanodisks as seen with a scanning electron microscope. (Image: Fangfang Wen/Rice University)


Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Eureka moments in Nanochemistry – 2015 Centenary Award, Professor Geoffrey Ozin

Here is a fantastic article on Nanochemistry published in Materials Views - Eureka moments in Nanochemistry – 2015 Centenary Award


This article is an invited piece from Professor Geoffrey Ozin, University of Toronto, on his 2015 RSC Centenary Award for his work in defining, enabling and popularising a chemical approach to nanomaterials for innovative nanotechnology in advanced materials and biomedical science.


"In this Perspective I will look back over my careers work and reminisce, with the help of a few graphical depictions, about the “eureka moments” that led me to imagine and help develop the field of Nanochemistry. "

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 - ALD!

7. Multi-photon direct laser written (DLW) photonic bandgap nanomaterials

"In collaboration with colleagues at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, I used this nanofabrication method to invert a DLW polymer template in silica by atomic layer deposition. This enabled a subsequent inversion in silicon by disilane chemical vapor deposition, creating thereby a silicon replica of the original polymer template (Nature Materials 2006). Silicon photonic bandgap nanomaterials created by this inventive ‘double inversion’ method facilitate the development of silicon-based all-optical devices, circuits and chips with utility in optical telecommunication and computer systems. I spearheaded a creative extension of this work with single-step DLW in a high refractive index ‘inorganic’ photo-resist, arsenic sesquisulphide, As2S3. This opened the door to a large variety of new photonic bandgap materials and architectures that can be made by DLW without inversion of a sacrificial polymer template (ChemMater 2008)."



Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Swedish Nanexa demonstrate ALD controlled drug delivery

PharmaShell® is a completely new drug delivery system from Nanexa and has demonstrated great potential to revolutionize drug formulation in the future. PharmaShell® is based on containment of microscopic drug particles, which allow for new possibilities for targeting and dosing of drugs with higher precision.



Many drugs today are used as small particles and they can be administered in several ways, e.g. intravenous, orally or by inhalation. PharmaShell® provides a technique where solid drug particles in the size range of nanometers to micrometers are completely contained. The containment is provided by creating a shell, with a thickness of a few nanometers, on the surface of the drug particles. The shell is made from a mineral compound which has low solubility. This allows the shell to completely dissolve and exit the human body. The release of the contained drug is rigorously controlled by the predetermined thickness of the shell, a thicker shell takes longer time to dissolve and vice versa. In this way the extent of therapeutic time can be tailored.



Powder sample loaded into a Picosun ALD reactor.


PharmaShell® is synthesized directly on the surface of drug particles, which gives a drug load that is extremely high. The “drug load” is defined as weight of active drug in a formulation by the total weight. A high drug load in competing drug delivery systems is around 20%, with PharmaShell® the drug load is rarely below 70%.

In order to create the shell on drug particles we use a chemical deposition technique called Atomic Layer Deposition, ALD. ALD enable growth of well-controlled shells on nanoparticles in a way that no other techniques can.

A further advantage with PharmaShell® is that we provide a well-defined outer surface of the coated particles. The surface provided by PharmaShell® is covered by chemically bonded hydroxyl groups, which are most suitable for further binding of other molecules, such as targeting molecules that can otherwise be difficult to bind to surfaces of drug particles.

PharmaShell® also contributes to longer shelf life of the coated drugs. Extremely small amounts of oxygen and water can react with solid drug particles and destroy their function or merge them into larger particles. PharmaShell® is proven to be completely dense which effectively prevents oxygen, water or other gaseous compounds from penetrating and ruining the drug.

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

MISOKA - The Nano CMP tooth brush from Japan

MISOKA - A new tooth brush from Japan uses nanotechnology to clean your teeth without the use of tooth paste. To me this seems to be pretty advanced technology from Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP) used in the semiconductor industry to planarize interconnects. All information below from the company webpage (http://www.misoka.jp/salone2015/salone2015-en.html).



Simply moisten the bristles and brush your teeth. The MISOKA toothbrush cleans your teeth by using the action of nano-sized mineral particles on the bristles to remove plaque from the surfaces of your teeth. It also gives the surfaces a smoother feel by making them more hydrophilic. This ground-breaking new toothbrush gives you the confidence of knowing you have brushed your teeth properly, leaving the inside of your mouth feeling fresher by making it more difficult for plaque and other material to stick to your teeth. So long as you don’t brush so hard that it hurts your gums, each MISOKA toothbrush will last for about one month.



  • Nano-sized mineral ions on the brush bristles help clean plaque from the teeth.
  • Brushing leaves an ion coating on the surface of the teeth that makes it more difficult for plaque and other material to adhere.
This picture looks a bit like an ALE process... The Atomic Layer Brush :-)

And yes you can buy it on Amazon for 14 US Dollar and until now over 2 million has been sold. 

MISOKA Toothbrush



Price:$14.12 FREE Shipping
In stock.
Ships from and sold by K-I-M-JAPAN.
    Estimated Delivery Date: June 1 - 4 when you choose Expedited at checkout.
    • Size (about): [package] width 20 × 4.5 × height back 2cm, 1cm length of [body] pattern 18.5 × 1.3cm hair
    • Material: [pattern] AS resin, [hair] nylon
    • Normal: Hardness of the hair




    Monday, May 25, 2015

    Continued support for molecules which function like machines with another 8.9 million EUR

    Nanotechnology project on molecular machines receives its third round of funding (Nanowerk News) Great excitement at Kiel University: As the DFG (German Research Foundation) announced it will continue to support the research on molecules which function like machines with another 8.9 million EUR. 



    This funding will allow the scientists in Germany's northernmost state to develop new engineering techniques for building tiny machine-like molecules over the next four years. The ultimate miniaturisation of engineering functions should improve the efficiency of energy conversion systems, medicines, diagnostic methods and materials. Moreover, completely new areas of applications will open up along this line. 

    The Collaborative Research Centre 677 (SFB 677) "Function by Switching" now starts into the third and final funding period. Collaborative Research Centres are supported for a maximum of twelve years. They are highly competitive and prestigious flagship institutions at German universities. In total, around 100 scientists from the fields of chemistry, physics, material sciences and medicine collaborate in this Kiel based research network. 


    Subproject Overview

    Project Area A

    First and foremost, we will synthesize the elementary molecular switches as well as their neighboring environment (supramolecular aggregates) in homogeneous solution using classical methods of synthetic chemistry. Elemental processes, e.g. the switching process and its mechanism, will also be investigated in solution first, as there are efficient analytical methods available for this environment. We will benefit from these results to establish and optimize the application of the molecules on surfaces (project area B) and in functional materials (project area C).
    show list of projects in area A

    Project Area B

    Arranging and operating switching molecules on surfaces comprises the subprojects in area B. The alignment of the switches on the surface, i.e. distance and orientation of the switches with respect to the surface as well as to each other, is an essential requirement to achieve a programed function. Scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy are availabe to characterize surfaces. Various efficient surface sensitive techniques will be used to to confirm the switching process and the triggered function.
    show list of projects in area B

    Project Area C

    The incorporation of molecular switches into functional materials such as coordination polymers, pores or nanocomposites facilitates the switching of properties such as conductivity, refraction, diffusion or adsorption. Target applications include switchable storage media as well as optical and molecular filters.
    show list of projects in area C

    Project Area Z

    Project area Z contains the collaborative research center's central projects, i.e. the research training group as well as public relations.
    show list of projects in area Z


     

    Saturday, May 16, 2015

    Silicon nanoneedles used to reprogram cells to develop new blood vessels

    Many may wonder why we need to fabricate nano structures and nano devices and things like nano dots, nano wires and nano needles. Here is a recent paper in Nature Materials that demonstrates the use of dense array of silicon nano needles used in medicine research to reprogram cells to develop new blood vessels (thanks Wendy at www.colnatec.com for sharing this one). Just imagine the huge potential for this technology in giving blood in the future! You could just have a constant supply of fresh blood cells added to the system when needed or regenerate faster after giving blood. 

    So back to why do we need nano needles in this case? First of all the average person does´t like needles at all it bloody hurts! "In cell perspective needles also do damage and models suggest that the cell membrane cannot recover if it is perforated by anything larger than 500 nm" - that´s half a micron, microtechnology, old technology - Here is a clear call for nanotechnology!

    That is why Tascotti and his colleagues had to go through a pretty advanced nano patterning and structuring process flow to create arrays of silicon based nano needles as described by Materials 360 Online and seen in Figure 1 from the publication in Nature Materials below:

    "To create their nanoneedles, Tasciotti and his colleagues first deposited silicon nitride onto biodegradable silicon wafers using chemical vapor deposition, and then patterned nanoneedles onto their substrate using photolithography. Next, they formed porous silicon pillars using metal-assisted chemical etching, which they then shaped into nanoneedles with reactive ion etching. Importantly, the porosity of the nanoneedles could be tailored between 45% and 70%, which allows their degradation time, payload volume, and mechanical properties to be fine-tuned. The resulting nanoneedles, which were on 8 × 8 mm2chips, were 5 μm long, 50 nm wide at the apex, and 600 nm at the base. Compared with a solid cylindrical nanowire of equivalent apical diameter, the nanoneedles had more than 300 times the surface area for payload adsorption."

    Biodegradable ​silicon nanoneedles delivering nucleic acids intracellularly induce localizedin vivo neovascularization

    C. Chiappini,  E. De Rosa, J. O. Martinez,  X. Liu,  J. Steele,  M. M. Stevens & E. Tasciotti

    The controlled delivery of nucleic acids to selected tissues remains an inefficient process mired by low transfection efficacy, poor scalability because of varying efficiency with cell type and location, and questionable safety as a result of toxicity issues arising from the typical materials and procedures employed. High efficiency and minimal toxicity in vitro has been shown for intracellular delivery of nuclei acids by using nanoneedles, yet extending these characteristics to in vivo delivery has been difficult, as current interfacing strategies rely on complex equipment or active cell internalization through prolonged interfacing. Here, we show that a tunable array of biodegradable nanoneedles fabricated by metal-assisted chemical etching of ​silicon can access the cytosol to co-deliver DNA and siRNA with an efficiency greater than 90%, and that in vivo the nanoneedles transfect the ​VEGF-165gene, inducing sustained neovascularization and a localized sixfold increase in blood perfusion in a target region of the muscle.





    Figure 1 | Porous silicon nanoneedles. a, Schematic of the nanoneedle synthesis combining conventional microfabrication and metal-assisted chemical etch (MACE). RIE, Reactive ion etching. b,c, SEM micrographs showing the morphology of porous silicon nanoneedles fabricated according to the process outlined in a. b, Ordered nanoneedle arrays with pitches of 2 μm, 10 μm and 20 μm, respectively. Scale bars, 2 μm. c, High-resolution SEM micrographs of nanoneedle tips showing the nanoneedles’ porous structure and the tunability of tip diameter from less than 100 nm to over 400 nm. Scale bars, 200 nm. d, Time course of nanoneedles incubated in cell-culture medium at 37 ◦ C. Progressive biodegradation of the needles appears, with loss of structural integrity between 8 and 15 h. Complete degradation occurs at 72 h. Scale bars, 2 μm. e, ICP-AES quantification of Si released in solution. Blue and black bars represent the rate of silicon release per hour and the cumulative release of silicon, respectively, at each timepoint, expressed as a percentage of total silicon released. Error bars represent the s.d. of 3–6 replicates. (Nature Publishing Group, License Number: 3630681325690).

    Thursday, April 2, 2015

    ALD and self-assembly will accelerate the adoption of nanomanufacturing

    ALD and self-assembly are amongst the technolgies that will accelerate the adoption of nanomanufacturing according to new analysis from Frost & Sullivan, Innovations in Nanomanufacturing. Overall, nanomanufacturing will gain traction in the next three to five years and is likely to approach commercialization between 2018 and 2020. Nanomanufacturing will find vast uses in consumer electronics, healthcare, automotive lighting, building automation, smart fabrics, display technology and positioning systems.

    http://www.nfcidea.pl/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Frost-Sullivan.jpg

    Current nanomanufacturing techniques do not support mass-scale production, as the fabrication of a large number of nano-devices repeatedly and under precisely controlled conditions remains a challenge. Nanomanufacturing is also very complex, involving several processes and a high level of supervision.

     
    "Bottom-up approaches such as chemical vapor deposition, atomic layer deposition and self-assembly, which ensure high accuracy and minimal material wastage, will accelerate the adoption of nanomanufacturing," said Technical Insights Research Analyst Jabez Mendelson. "Progress in sensor and material coating technologies will also boost nanomanufacturing."

    To that end, numerous universities and research institutes are conducting research and actively filing patents. Most R&D activities have emerged from Asia-Pacific, considered the hub for electronic manufacturing.

    However, high initial investment and R&D costs inhibit the large-scale deployment of nanomanufacturing. Hence, active funding from governments as well as private investors will boost commercialization of nanomanufacturing.

    "Collaboration between various stakeholders in the value chain will propel nanomanufacturing technologies to the next stage of growth," said Technical Insights Senior Research Analyst Sumit Kumar Pal. "The field offers immense scope for technology licensing and partnerships, an avenue that stakeholders must explore to capitalize on this vast opportunity."

    Innovations in Nanomanufacturing, a part of the Technical Insights subscription, covers key technological advances in nanomanufacturing evaluated following extensive interviews with market participants. The report captures stakeholder initiatives, key technological trends, innovation hotspots, business implications of innovations with regard to different application segments, and factors influencing development landscape.

    For complimentary access to more information on this research, please visit: http://bit.ly/1xL9GNe.