Nanotechnology Report: Part I

By Rick Currin

If you haven’t heard the buzz in nanotechnology you haven’t been listening very closely.  Nanotechnology is beginning to crop up in the in the media, in TV commercials by HP, in the venture capital arena, in the patent office, and in the stock market.  Separating the technology hype from the sound investment opportunities will be a challenge, but in my opinion, sitting on the sidelines for the nanotech revolution is not the option of choice for the savvy technology investor.

Understanding the market for nanotech and the potential for a “nano-boom” or in some cases a “nano-bust” is my mission to you.  By separating the hype from the marketable and commercially capable potential you will be in a position to profit from nanotech investing and avoid the potential to find yourself invested in what may become a “nano-bubble” for anything nano regardless of its soundness as an investment.

In the first of this two part report, I’ll outline the nanotechnology landscape.  In the next report I will detail some of the nanotechnology enablers and discuss the nanotech investments in some additional detail.  The breadth of the nanotechnology subject is immense and this report is not intended to be comprehensive explanation of nanotechnology.  Instead it is designed to give you an appreciation that nanotechnology is both a disruptive technology of the future and a technology already delivering commercial products.  I expect to update you with nanotechnology developments as we move ahead and do not discount adding additional nanotechnology offerings in the future of the portfolio.

What is Nanotechnology?

According to the National Science and Technology Council this is the working definition:

Research and technology development at the atomic, molecular or macromolecular levels, in the length scale of approximately 1 - 100 nanometer range, to provide a fundamental understanding of phenomena and materials at the nanoscale and to create and use structures, devices and systems that have novel properties and functions because of their small and/or intermediate size. The novel and differentiating properties and functions are developed at a critical length scale of matter typically under 100 nm. Nanotechnology research and development includes manipulation under control of the nanoscale structures and their integration into larger material components, systems and architectures. Within these larger scale assemblies, the control and construction of their structures and components remains at the nanometer scale. In some particular cases, the critical length scale for novel properties and phenomena may be under 1 nm (e.g., manipulation of atoms at ~0.1 nm) or be larger than 100 nm (e.g., nanoparticle reinforced polymers have the unique feature at ~ 200-300 nm as a function of the local bridges or bonds between the nano particles and the polymer).

I think they should work on shorter definition.  However key within this definition are the novel and differentiating properties found at the nanoscale.  The novel properties of the nanotech realm will enable many commercial uses and disrupt entrenched technologies across a broad range of applications.  Residing at an atomic and molecular scale, properties of materials behave in interesting and beneficial ways that will be exploited commercially.

The Nanotech Forecast

According to the National Science Foundation nanotech products will top $1 trillion dollars by 2015.  It is anticipated that that production will result in over two million workers in nanotechnology.  The reason nanotechnology can become so pervasive is because it will fundamentally lead to material breakthroughs applicable to all technical fields.

We often think of high tech as the computing, IT and telecommunications chip and internet revolution. But recall that we refer to the center of this technology revolution as Silicon Valley.  The breakthroughs in silicon technology fueled the improvements in the integrated circuit.  Notably Moore’s law also predicted a doubling of capability in accordance with shrinking technology allowing more transistors per chip.  Moore’s law has held for a long time despite initial skeptics.  It is worth noting that in concert with Moore’s law, silicon designs are already down to 90 nanometers and nanotechnology is already being touted as the solution to the physical limit dilemma facing conventional silicon fabrication methods and Moore’s law.   This physical limit to Moore’s law has been referred to as “the red brick wall”.

Will the silicon chip ultimately give way to the carbon nanoscale chip?  That is indeed a strong possibility though not foreseeable in the near term .  But nanotechnology will not be limited to advancements in high tech electronic applications: nanotechnology will permeate all areas of materials and thus all areas of production using advanced materials enabled through nanotechnology.

Nanotubes and Nanomaterials

A nanotube is a long, cylindrical carbon structure consisting of hexagonal graphite molecules attached at the edges.  The nanotube has one hundred times the tensile strength of steel (at one sixth the weight), thermal conductivity rivaling diamond and electrical conductivity like copper but with higher current carrying capability.  Add to that the nanotube is roughly only 1.2 nanometers wide.  The implications of this nanoscale graphite as the building block for a wide array of material improvements and nanoscale production are well acknowledged.

One novel aspect of nanotubes is that they are not uniform.  Although non-uniformity can be a problem it is instead a blessing in disguise in this case.  That’s because nanotubes can be everything from highly conductive to semi conductive to insulating. The additional novel properties of nanotubes indicate their use for applications such as light displays, general lighting, fluorescence, electrical conductors, semiconductors, fuel cells, sensors, paint and coatings, textiles, protective clothing, atomic imaging, lithography, nanoparticle fillers, and countless more.  Among the areas with near term commercialization potential are flat panel displays, lighting, fuel cells and electronics, coatings and fillers and data storage.

The current reality of nanotubes is that they are produced in small quantity at significant cost.  Part of that cost however is associated with the small scale production primarily for research purposes. As commercial applications present themselves, production costs will plummet.

Nanotechnology Is Already Here and Just Around the Corner As Well

Much of the nanotech application is on the horizon but some significant achievements with immediate commercial potential are already worth noting.

Eddie Bauer has a product called nano-careTM   khakis utilizing nanoscale fabric treatment. Dockers “Stain DefenderTM” products also utilize nanoscale fabric treatments. 

A sunscreen maker is also already using nanoparticles effective at absorbing UV.  The sunscreen spreads thinner and is not chalk white on application.  

Fuji in 2001 announced a nanoscale coating that will enable floppy disk storage of 3 GB.  That is a long way from the now overwhelmed and disappearing 1.44 MB disk still in use. 

Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers are used in fiber optic communications. VCSEL’s already rely on nanometer thick film layers.

Magnetic RAM or MRAM is a form of non volatile memory that is promising a very low cost per storage bit and is headed for commercialization.  There are also applications using quantum charge states of molecules to enable multiple states of data storage in a sort of multi-bit. (i.e. instead of simply a binary "0 or 1" state).  A multi-state storage capability is already feasible using molecules and in development.

Generally, storage media will be highly impacted by nanoscale technologies in near term commercial application because of the relative simplicity of storage media versus more complex circuit applications.

The concern over the capacity of the electrical transmission grid could see nanofillers greatly enhancing the conducting capabilities of transmission lines.  By taking advantage of the existing infrastructure, nanomaterial improvements may help enable transmission improvements without the massive new construction of transmission lines in a world of “not in my backyard” opposition to new construction. 

In the biotech area nanotechnology is entrenched with molecular and DNA investigation.  Nanotechnology is also in development to deliver drugs and make drugs more effective.  The potential for nanotechnology to impact the life sciences area is immense.

The commercial applications of nanoparticles are dependent on a justifiable scale supporting commercial application and the ability to economically produce nanomaterials to meet the need.  The ultimate potential is astounding in scale.  Currently there are a large number of players working on raising the yield of nanomaterials, reducing cost of nanotubes, and sorting nanotubes by characteristics.  Consolidation will likely occur within this area resulting in winners and losers.

Patent activity is also very high in the nanotechnology area.  Here is a list of recent U.S. patents with nanotube in the title.

Obviously there is a flurry of activity for which intellectual property is being claimed on nanotubes alone.  Make no mistake; nanotechnology is both disruptive and potentially very profitable.  In next week’s report we’ll look at the enablers and investments along with a few developments I’m watching closely for you.

 For the Nanotechnology Report, Part II please REGISTER