NANOTECHNOLOGY Research · Nanoscale Science & Engineering

🔬 Nanotechnology — Nanoscale Science & Engineering

From carbon nanotubes and semiconductor nanofabrication to atomically precise manufacturing — manipulating matter at the 1–100 nanometer scale to create revolutionary materials, devices, and systems.

Funding: ~$2B/year across NSF, DOE, NIST, DoD, and NIH (National Nanotechnology Initiative).

7
Research Centers
$2.0B
Total Funding
3
Government Labs
1
Private Sector

Key Research Areas

Carbon Nanotubes — Single-wall & multi-wall CNTs for electronics, composites, and energy storage
Semiconductor Nanofabrication — Sub-5nm lithography, EUV, and advanced chip manufacturing
Molecular Nanotechnology — Atomically precise manufacturing and programmable matter
Nanoscale Measurement — Atomic force microscopy, electron-beam characterization

Milestones

1985 — Fullerene (C₆₀) discovered at Rice University by Smalley, Curl & Kroto
1991 — Carbon nanotubes first observed by Sumio Iijima at NEC
2000 — National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) launched by US government
2018 — MIT.nano opens: largest university cleanroom in the world
2024 — Sub-2nm transistor demonstrated using gate-all-around nanosheet
$40B+ — Total NNI investment since 2001 across 20+ federal agencies

Government Laboratories

Universities

Private Sector