Lux Research

Nanomaterials

Nanomaterials are purposefully engineered structures of matter, with at least one dimension of less than 100 nm, and exhibiting size-dependent properties, which have been minimally processed. Nanomaterials exhibit unique properties attributable to their size. For example, carbon nanotubes are strong, light, and can emit electrons from their tips, while different sizes of quantum dots emit different colors of light when exposed to ultraviolet rays. They may be costly (single-walled carbon nanotubes cost $50 per gram or more at press time, and a gram of quantum dots would cost significantly more), but aren't useful on their own. Instead, they are incorporated into products fuather down the value chain to deliver the desired properties. The nanotechnology value chain leading to the General Motors (GM) Chevrolet Impala starts with a nanomaterial—nanoclays from Southern Clay Products, sold under the Cloisite brand, which have been chemically modified to be compatible with polymers. Other significant types of commercial nanomaterials include fullerenes, metal and metal oxide nanoparticles, dendrimers, and nanoporous materials.

Nanointermediates

Nanointermediates are intermediate products—neither the first nor the last step in the value chain—that either incorporate nanomaterials or have been constructed from other materials to have nanoscale features. An example of the former is the Chevrolet Impala value chain: Southern Clay provides its nanoclays to plastics manufacturer LyondellBasell, where they are incorporated into a polypropylene composite that GM will later use to mold parts of the car's body. For an example of the latter, consider the magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM) chips made by EverSpin Technologies. The chips are produced by patterning nanoscale layers of magnetic materials, allowing the chips to store information based on electron spin rather than charge. Because the chips have these nanoscale features, they qualify as nanointermediates, even though they don't incorporate any nanomaterials per se.

Nanoenabled Products and Nanotools

Nanoenabled products are finished goods at the end of the value chain that incorporate nanomaterials or nanointermediates. In the case of GM's Chevrolet Impala, the nanoenabled product is the car. Nanoenabled products incorporating EverSpin's MRAM include automobiles, which use MRAM in their computing systems (because the memory's nonvolatile character allows carmakers to dispense with the auxiliary battery most memory chips require); however, the chips could be used in products ranging from mobile phones to MP3 players.

Nanotools

The previous three value chain stages flow into one another—nanomaterials are used in nanointermediates, which are incorporated into nanoenabled products. Researchers and manufacturers working at all three of those stages, however, make use of the fourth value chain category in their research and development (R&D) and production activities: namely, nanotools, the capital equipment and software used to visualize, manipulate, and model matter at the nanoscale.

Nanotools include inspection equipment used to visualize nanostructures (like scanning probe microscopes from Veeco, and electron microscopes from FEI), fabrication equipment used to make nanostructures (like nanoimprint lithography from Molecular Imprints and dip-pen nanolithography equipment from NanoInk), and modeling tools used to model the form and properties of nanostructures on computers to either preempt or streamline later experimentation (i.e., software from companies like Accelrys and Atomistix).

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