Frost: Despite Early Stages, Nanodevice Technology Shows Promise
February 23, 2007 // Published as a news service by IHS
| |
| Electronics & Telecom Docs |
IHS sells a full selection of standards documents & collections from the industry's top organizations.
To learn more, and for a free quote, please complete the form below. |
|
Ongoing R&D efforts on nanodevice technologies continue at research institutions, with major commercial electronic companies participating in applied research and technology development.
According to Frost & Sullivan, the result is parallel streams of effort that aim at sequential segments of the technology development cycle - basic research that examines the process of self-assembly, applied research that examines methods by which these processes can be harnessed to develop nanostructures and the development of very simple devices.
"While bottom-up self-assembly is still an ambitious capability to aim for, its potential to fabricate structures with very good order under 10 nanometers (nm) and, if the technology matures as desired, to do so at low cost, make it exciting as a new nanofabrication technique," said Frost & Sullivan research analyst Rahul Nayar.
"R&D is still at an early stage, but continues to drive progress toward developing fabrication techniques, as well as simple devices." Nayar said these could one day enhance the capabilities of the electronics systems into which they are integrated.
R&D continues to develop the basic science and know-how on which this technique will rest, as well as to drive self-assembly toward being able to produce simple devices.
Analysts said a number of techniques are being developed to assemble nanostructures using a bottom-up approach, including everything from chemical synthesis techniques to using viruses to grow devices.
Simple devices have also been developed by university research teams and major electronics companies. While these are still basic, perhaps rudimentary, they do point the way to exciting new possibilities.
Much of the basic science that self-assembly technology will need to leverage is not yet fully understood, and is still being researched. The techniques of self-assembly are, in most cases, at an applied research stage and there is still much work going on at a basic research level.
Analysts said these will help build the foundation of commercially successful self-assembly technology. Until they mature further, self-assembly will find it difficult to get out of the lab.
Self-assembly is an interesting stage, analysts said, where basic and applied research go together with technology and device development efforts. This can be a complex dynamic to handle, and one which will need to be managed effectively for successful development and commercialization in the long term.
"A major restraint lies in the uncertainty that raises many basic issues: the basic science and techniques which will form the foundation of self-assembly is still under construction," said Nayar. "Managing the dynamics between driving and funding basic research on one hand, and device development on the other, will remain a powerful challenge for those who wish to develop and adopt self-assembly technology."
Continuing effort in a variety of areas - basic science, self-assembly technique development and device development - will help expand the knowledge base and capabilities in this area. Analysts said it is crucial that development efforts will need to focus on methods by which self-assembled structures and devices can be integrated with existing technologies.
IHS electronics & telecom standards subscriptions can save you money!
Analysts said effective commercialization will depend on being able to partner these new techniques with existing lithographic technology and devices and continuing to provide long-range order in a manner that self-assembly cannot yet provide.
Source: Frost & Sullivan.