Nanotechnology timeline
Where has nanotechnology come from, and where is it going...
What makes nanotechnology possible?
Nano-scale stuff has always been around us. What is different now is our ability to examine and even work with material at this scale with increasing ease. There are a number of important technologies that have come together to allow us to do this, but perhaps the most influential was the invention of the scanning tunnelling microscope by Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer at IBM in 1981.
Find out more about the techniques that make nanotechnology possible:
Above right: AFM image of quantum dots. (Image courtesy of Mark Hopkinson, University of Sheffield.)
Incremental nanotechnology — rebranding science
A lot of things we have been using for hundreds of years gain important properties as a result of their scale. Some things just happen to be of this size range, while others need to be this size to work. Being able to take control of structure at the nano-scale adds a new dimension to existing materials...
A lot of modern science is working at the nano-scale; find out more:
Above right: AFM image of a phase-separated blend of two conjugated
polymers. (Image courtesy of Ashley Cadby and David Lidzey, University of
Sheffield.)
Evolutionary nanotechnology — top down design
When we want more in a smaller package, component size must be reduced, and this increasingly involves working with components at the nano-scale. Modern chip manufacturers routinely mass-produce memory and processor units in silicon with design features as small as 45nm, and these features are going to get smaller yet...
To an outsider the continual shrinkage of the electronic devices we use seems like an organic refinement of well-established methods - this is often far from the truth! Find out more:
Above right: An organic optical micropillar, being developed
at Sheffield for use in quantum cryptography. (Image by Wen-Chang Hung,
Ali Adawi and Andy Eccleston.)
Radical nanotechnology — dreams and nightmares
What might nanotechnology lead to? The ability to manufacture products for free, artificial life, immortality and Armageddon have all been claimed as natural consequences of a mature nanotechnology.
What challenges must we overcome to see any of these things come to pass? Find out more:
Above right: Detail from 'Nano-death' by B.Kaye for Nanofolio 2006.
Return to: A journey to the nano-world.
