Author: Dr. James Murday
Last saved by: James B. Lewis
Company: NRL 6100

Nanotechnology and the National Nanotechnology Initiative: a Report Card

Nanometer structures have played a role in technology for millennia, but empirically derived.  The invention of surface analytical tools in the 1960s/70s enabled science with one dimension in the nanometer range; commercial products based on that science are significant and growing.  The invention of the proximal probes has stimulated science with all dimensions - 0 (dots, clusters, macromolecules), 1 (wires, tubes), 2 (vicinal surfaces), 3 (composites) - in the nanometer range.  The US National Nanotechnology Initiative, and the equivalents in other countries, seeks to accelerate progress in the scientific phase of discovery and invention, and to transition rapidly those innovations into technological opportunities.  An impressive infrastructure is under development to accomplish these goals.  This presentation will: a) examine the infrastructure – research funding, centers/networks, measurement/manipulation instrumentation, dot/wire availability, technology transition mechanisms; b) assess and grade the progress to date; and c) dare to guess at some roadmaps.