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By Richard Gaughan, Small Times Contributing Editor

Mar. 20, 2007 — A growing emphasis on control of matter at the nanoscale has uncovered a wide range of opportunities for unprecedented generation and manipulation of matter and information. The tools of nanotechnology and nanoscience are being used to create coatings with unique thermal and wear resistance properties, to develop particles capable of identifying dysfunctional cells and delivering therapeutic agents within the body, and to implement quantum computing schemes that promise unprecedented performance. But these applications will not see widespread adoption until manufacturers are confident in both the technology and the logistical stability of the supply chain. That is, nanotechnology developers have to demonstrate to their customers not only that the solution is technically viable, but that it is, and will continue to be, available in quantities required for commercial applications.

How can this process be intelligently guided?

A consortium of European government agencies, corporations, universities, and trade associations, The Merging Optics and Nanotechnologies (MONA) project, is cooperating to develop a plan to guide the development of nanophotonics. Following the lead of the semiconductor industry, they are generating a “nanophotonics roadmap,” a document that will identify milestones and plot the path for market acceptance. The semiconductor industry has found such roadmaps useful in at least a couple ways: first, to institute a de facto cooperative effort among different companies, and second, to generate confidence within the customer base that products with certain capabilities will be generally available on schedule. The nanophotonics roadmap has the same goals.


Photo: The Merging Optics and Nanotechnologies (MONA) project

MONA is seeking involvement from additional parties, both within and outside Europe. As a first step, they have developed a Frame of Reference document that establishes a baseline description of the intersection between photonics and nanotechnology. Beginning with definitions of optics and nanotechnology, the document identifies challenges associated with developing the technology.

As part of the effort to include and solicit input from a variety of organizations, the MONA project sponsored a workshop on building a nanophotonics roadmap. About 80 attendees heard presentations from around the world on the current state of nanophotonics, then separated into working groups to further define the issues.

The group that discussed electronic-photonic convergence is confident that it will occur, if for no other reason than because the semiconductor electronics industry will need the help of photonic solutions to stay on track on their own roadmap, particularly in the area of both on-board and on-chip interconnects. Because the relevant metric is performance over cost, and silicon manufacturing offers the lowest cost, the working group felt that the foreseeable steps on the roadmap should focus on producing silicon nanophotonics. The first three applications are likely to be fiber-to-the-home integration, high performance server clusters, and multicore microprocessors.

Another working group discussed international collaboration, and concluded that necessary cross-border cooperation has already begun. Thomas Pearsall, General Secretary of the European Photonics Industry Consortium and facilitator of the discussion, feels that more emphasis on international cooperation is necessary. “In a little bit of time we’re going to have something that looks like a roadmap,” he said, “and I think we need to open it up to a critical discussion because the markets are international and the applications are international.”

A working group focused on commercialization considered such issues as technological milestones that need to be reached in order to trigger new applications. For example, high data rate highly secure communications with quantum crytptography will be triggered by a single quantum dot capable of emitting qubits, photons in a single well-defined quantum state. How long will it take for nanophotonics to move from first market to applications? The answer, of course, varies wildly depending upon the technology. For example, quantum dots are already in use for imaging applications, but there are many other applications with longer-term target dates for market acceptance.

The final working group considered the steps necessary to move nanophotonics from laboratory to high volume production. How do you generate products at a low enough cost to drive high volumes, which the group defined as one million to ten million devices per year? A necessary precursor will be the realization of a common library of design and process tools, most probably for CMOS devices. But there is a lack of identification of the current processes used by different players in the industry, a necessary step to defining needs for the industry. Government and cooperative industrial research organizations will probably be critical in helping to define a framework for precompetitive activities.

The discussions of the four working groups are representative of the types of issues to be addressed in the roadmap, issues about which the MONA project seeks additional input.

Mar. 20, 2007 — According to David Huff, Vice President of Marketing and Business Development for the Optoelectronics Industry Development Association, emerging nanophotonics technologies offer the potential to greatly expand the use of optoelectronics in consumer and computing applications. Huff delivered this message during his keynote address at the Nano-Giga Challenges 2007 Conference at Arizona State University. The conference addressed developments in nanotechnology as it applies to electronics, optics, sensors, chemical, thermal, and bio-medical applications.

“When you engineer light and materials at the quantum level, you can shake the bounds of classical optics and physics,” said Huff. “By enabling the development of high bandwidth, high-speed and ultra-small optoelectronics components, nanophotonics is allowing us to change the realm of the possible.”

Huff discussed markets for nanophotonic technology, led by consumer and computer applications; key advances, such as nanowaveguides, that may offer new life to existing silicon photonics applications; and new quantum effect devices, such as light ‘freezing’, which will offer unique optical processing capabilities that cannot be implemented with any technology today.

Despite the fact that silicon fabrication techniques can be applied, the assembly of these devices is still quite expensive, Huff said. Defects in the devices must be addressed to fix loss and performance issues, and less expensive techniques must be developed for device integration and interfaces. “Nanophotonics offers many more capabilities than I was able to address in my talk, including sensor, bio-medical, optical refrigeration, displays, and solar energy,” explained Huff. “It will be fascinating to see which applications pan out in the market.”

Mar. 20, 2007 — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared for marketing Cepheid‘s MEMS-based Xpert EV, a test that uses molecular biology to quickly detect the presence of viral meningitis. The Xpert EV, when used in combination with other laboratory tests, promises to help physicians distinguish between viral meningitis and the less-common, but more severe version of meningitis caused by bacteria.

Meningitis is diagnosed by testing the fluid obtained from a patient during a spinal tap. Typically, diagnostic tests for meningitis can take up to a week to get results. But results from the Xpert EV test are available in two and one-half hours.

Bacterial meningitis can be deadly within two days. “Because this test is significantly faster than existing methods for diagnosing meningitis, it could minimize delays in treating patients. Swift recognition of the cause and appropriate treatment is critical to patient recovery,” said Daniel Schultz, M.D., director of the Center for Devices and Radiological Health.

Knowing whether the meningitis is viral or bacterial is imperative to early effective treatment. But distinguishing between the two types of infection has been difficult because of similar symptoms. Patients with viral meningitis usually recover within two weeks without any medical intervention. Bacterial meningitis, however, can lead to brain damage, hearing loss and even death if not treated properly.

Mar. 19, 2007 — Nano Chemical Systems Holdings, Inc announced its latest entry into the $1 billion automotive appearance chemical category, TiO2, a “nano-enhanced” protectant for a variety of rubber, vinyl, and leather surfaces. TiO2 promises to actually absorb harmful UVA/UVB sun rays whereas, according to the company, competing products only reflect the rays.

Dr. Mathew Zuckerman, President and CEO of Nano Chemical, explained that, “only small quantities of these nano-enhanced particles are required to achieve effective UV protection because these small particles have a much greater surface area than larger particles with the same chemical composition used by our competitors.”

Titanium Dioxide, the active ingredient in TiO2, is the key ingredient found in sunscreen lotions and like sunscreen lotions. TiO2 delivers a sun protector factor of up to SPF 50. The product promises a long-lasting shine while it protects and prevents fading and cracking.

Nano Chemical is formulating a fabric protectant with similar properties, and expects to launch that product shortly.


The CEOs of Virtus and USC see their collaboration as key to serving the Japanese market for inertial sensors. (Photo: Businesswire)

Mar. 19, 2007 — Virtus Advanced Sensors (VAS), a US company commercializing MEMS-based multi-axis inertial sensors, has established a wholly-owned subsidiary in Tokyo, Japan, Virtus Japan Kabushiki Kaisha (K.K.), to help the company develop a long-term presence in Asia. Virtus Japan K.K. will pursue advanced R&D and new product development activities with local Japanese companies, including affiliated firm Wacoh Research.

Virtus says it launched the Japanese subsidiary to work jointly with applications providers and customers to integrate its patent portfolio in multi-axis inertial sensor technology into consumer-electronics and related products. Almost simultaneous with the launch, Virtus signed a collaboration agreement with USC Corporation of Japan, the largest trading company of Sony Corp., which will work with Virtus on design-in projects for USC customers based in Japan and Asia. USC will make an undisclosed direct investment into Virtus including support for Virtus Japan K.K.

MEMS and nanotechnology venture capital group Innovation Engine has committed at least $1m to Virtus and will be the lead VC in Japan for the subsidiary in its current funding round. Mutsunori Sano, President & CEO of Innovation Engine, says his company “expects VAS to be one of the leading MEMS technology venture companies in the world.”

According to Louis Ross, President & CEO of Virtus, the collaboration agreement with USC, “will provide the type of sales, marketing and distribution support we will be needing in the near future in Japan and the Asia Pacific region. For a US-based MEMS venture company, it’s certainly a first in terms of the scope of the partnership which goes well beyond the typical hands off distribution agreement and includes co-development activities and a significant investment commitment by USC. Such partnerships in Japan are critical in order to engage in direct design-in.”

Haruo Kadosaka, CEO & COO of USC, believes that `Virtus has cutting-edge technology for the development of MEMS sensors, an area of deep interest to our customer base.”

Japan is seen as a “first-mover” market for new technologies in consumer electronics, and is a leader in robotics, wireless devices, and gaming, three applications expected to be significant consumers of MEMS enabled inertial sensor components and subsystems.

Mar. 19, 2007 — U.S. demand for nanotechnology medical products will increase over 17 percent per year to $53 billion in 2011, says The Freedonia Group, Inc., a Cleveland-based industry research firm. Afterwards, the increasing flow of new nanomedicines, nanodiagnostics, and nanotech-based medical supplies and devices into the US market will boost demand to more than $110 billion in 2016.

The firm reports these and other findings in its new study, Nanotechnology in Healthcare. The critical need for new or improved therapies for many medical conditions will promote the adaptation of nanotechnology to an expanding number of pharmaceuticals, Freedonia says. Advances in nanotechnology will also contribute significant improvements to the quality and performance of medical diagnostic products.

Freedonia says that several medical supplies and devices will emerge as key applications for nanotechnology, but that the greatest short-term impact of nanotechnology in health care will be in therapies and diagnostics for cancer and central nervous system disorders.


Crossbow’s new business unit will focus on wireless sensing. (Photo: Crossbow Technology)

Mar. 16, 2007 — Crossbow Technology, Inc., supplier of wireless sensor technology and inertial MEMS sensors for navigation and control, announced the formation of its wireless sensor business unit. The new unit is focused on commercializing the company’s MEMS-based wireless technology, popularly known as “Motes,” for environmental monitoring, asset management, and physical security applications.

The wireless business unit will be led by a former Intel executive, Michael Dierks, who joins Crossbow in the newly created role of Chief Operating Officer. Dierks will oversee the wireless sensor business unit, corporate development, and Crossbow’s international expansion, which currently includes operations in Europe, China, and Japan.

Mr. Dierks was previously a Director, Strategic Investments, at Intel Capital where he developed and led Intel’s investment strategy in the areas of MEMS, nanotechnology, and RFID, and more recently Intel’s renewed focus on consumer internet. Some of Mr. Dierks’ investments include Iridigm (acquired by Qualcomm), Nanosys, RF Code, Six Apart, and Crossbow.

Mar. 16, 2007 — A draft version of the Nano Risk Framework, written by Environmental Defense and DuPont, is open for public review and feedback, with a deadline of Friday, Mar. 30, 2007.

The document intends to “define a systematic and disciplined process that can be used to identify, manage and reduce potential environmental, health and safety risks of nano-scale materials across all lifecycle stages to help ensure that nanotechnology’s benefits are maximized while the potential risks are effectively assessed and managed.” DuPont and Envoronmental Defense say the feedback will help them create a final version&#8212scheduled to be released this summer&#8212that is a “user-friendly, comprehensive tool for businesses, governments, non- profits, university interests and others.”

The partnership to develop the Framework began on September 1, 2005. Pilot-testing is now underway on several materials and applications, at various stages of development.

Download the draft and submit feedback at the Nano Risk Framework site.

Mar. 15, 2007 — A new study by London, England-based Cientifica, the first in the Nanotech:Cleantech series, identifies six key ways in which nanotechnology is contributing to the reduction of carbon emissions. The technologies discussed in this report&#8212available for free on Cientifica’s site&#8212are all available now or within the next two years, and some have been making stealthy inroads into global industry for as long as a decade.

Growing concern over climate change driven by man-made carbon emissions is prompting governments worldwide to look at ways of stabilizing or reducing their carbon footprint. The United Kingdom unveiled plans to set a “legally binding” target to cut carbon emissions by 60% by 2050 and the European Union has agreed to cut emissions by 20% between now and 2020.

Cientifica CEO Tim Harper commented, “All of the key applications are related to our enhanced control of materials at the nanoscale, whether lighter stronger materials for transportation, better thermal insulators or more efficient ways of storing energy. The key players read like a Who’s Who of global industry. “

Cientifica research director Hailing Yu added “combining Cientifica’s technology diffusion and impact models with global emissions data allows the quantification and comparison of the impact of nanotechnologies on a country by country or industry basis.”


Steinmeyer’s new precision stage is lightweight and compact. (Photo: Steinmeyer)

Mar., 15, 2007 — German measurement-instruments developer Steinmeyer, Inc. has released a new high-precision linear stage, the MT 84-25-PM, geared to nanotechnology, metrology, biomedical miniature robotics, and medical industry applications.

Steinmeyer manufactures the stage for cleanroom, high vacuum, and non-magnetic applications upon request, and says that the table is compact, lightweight, and robust. It features an overall width of only 27.5 mm, length of 84 mm, and standard travel of 25 mm. Manufactured from high-strength anodized aluminum, it weighs just 600 g and promises resolutions to 5 nm and repeatability of +/- 10 nm. The unit’s piezo linear motor has an incremental linear encoder and preloaded cross roller bearings.