{"id":4377,"date":"2001-10-26T10:29:03","date_gmt":"2001-10-26T15:29:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.socialmediaperformancegroup.com\/?p=4377"},"modified":"2001-10-26T10:29:03","modified_gmt":"2001-10-26T15:29:03","slug":"stratvantage-news-102601","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stratvantage.com\/index.php\/2001\/10\/26\/stratvantage-news-102601\/","title":{"rendered":"StratVantage – The News \u2013 10\/26\/01"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Nanotubes May Be For Real<\/i><\/b><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

I\u2019ve yammered on before<\/a> about nanotechnology and the huge disruptive effect commercializing this futuristic-sounding technology will have. I recently put nanotech on the list at the TrendSpot<\/a> at number 13 after realizing I hadn\u2019t added it before. Many readers may have yawned a bit and thought, \u201cSounds like Star Wars stuff that we\u2019ll be seeing in about 20 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Welcome to the future. If it wasn\u2019t enough of a jolt to realize that 3rdTech<\/a> is offering the $85,000 Nanomanipulator\u2122 that allows you to manipulate individual molecules and atoms in 3D, or that IBM is makingnanotube transistors<\/a> in the laboratory, then prepare for the real paradigm shift: Startup Nantero is developing NRAM\u2122, a high-density nonvolatile random access memory chip, using nanotechnology. Specifically, they\u2019re using nanotubes, which are long hollow molecules made up of carbon rings. Nanotubes are 100 times stronger than steel, hard as diamonds, and can conduct electricity as well as copper. Typical Nanotube diameter is approximately 100,000 times smaller than a human hair. (Don\u2019t get me started on the varying estimates of the width of a human hair. In researching it, I found estimates that varied more than a thousandfold. I even found a tidbit that claimed Japanese hair is twice as thick as European hair. So that\u2019s why they appear to be so much better at miniaturization!)The micrograph at right is of a similar memory array developed at MIT. Each square on the grid is 300 nanometers by 400 nanometers.<\/p>\n

Nantero claims to have patented a method of using nanotubes as nonvolatile (meaning the contents don\u2019t disappear when you turn off the power) memory. This could result, according to the company, in \u201cMP3 players with 1000s of songs, PDAs with 10 gigabytes of memory, high-speed network servers and much more.\u201d<\/p>\n

The company just received $6 million in venture capital from industry heavyweights like Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and they\u2019re definitely not thinking small, claiming their revenue potential exceeds $100 billion.<\/p>\n

If that\u2019s not enough to knock your socks off, you must be wearing nanotube socks, perhaps made in Japan. Gunze Sangyo, Japan’s biggest men’s underwear maker in March unveiled<\/a> a new process to make fabric using nanotubes. Their rough-edged nanotubes conduct heat more than twice as effectively as copper and would initially find uses in heat sinks to help keep microchips cool. The first device containing the nanotubes is expected to reach the market this year. The tubes are already in production at a joint venture, Nano Graphite Materials Inc, in Ohio.<\/p>\n

Argonide Nanomaterials<\/a> uses a technique that explodes a wire with a huge electrical pulse, firing small particles through cold argon gas. The result is a powder that is 10 to 500 times smaller than that produced by other processes. The company recently received a contract from NASA to investigate the new material for on-board water sterilization filters. Their aluminum nanopowder, Alex\u00ae, can be used to accelerate the burning of propellants like those used in artillery shells. Argonide also is developing NanoCeram<\/a>\u2122, ceramic alumina fibers two nanometers in diameter. The fibers could be used in medical applications as an aid to growing bone because of their bio-adhesive properties. NanoCeram fibers also can be used to remove bacteria and viruses from water.<\/p>\n

Nanotubes may also provide a means to set us free from oil dependence.\u00a0Rhombic<\/a> is developing a technology that uses carbon nanotubes to store hydrogen in a proton polymer exchange membrane (PPEM) fuel cell. Such fuel cells could replace gasoline as a source of power in cars. Rhombic\u2019s technique grows nanotubes using chemical vapor deposition. Nanotubes turn out to be a great way to store hydrogen, since the space inside the tubes is just wide enough to contain hydrogen molecules. The company hopes to create highly efficient and cheaper fuel cells that combine nanotube hydrogen storage with their innovative Diamond Exchange Membrane (DEM), which separates the anode side from the cathode side in a fuel cell.<\/p>\n

Other companies and researchers are trying to create nanomachines, also known as MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS). In fact one MEMS company,Coventor<\/a>, a provider of MEMS software, ranked 152 on the Inc 500 list of fastest growing companies in the US, experiencing a 1739% increase in sales over five years. I particularly like one of the phrases from Coventor\u2019s Web site: \u201cwe work aggressively with customers to summon the future and wire it for power.\u201d O, Future! I summon thee!<\/p>\n

\"optf2\"One of the most promising areas for MEMS development is the routing of optical signals<\/a> in fiberoptic networks. On these networks today, the predominant way to route optical signals is to convert them from light-based to electronic, perform the routing, and convert back to light-based. This obviously introduces delays in delivering the information to its destination. Various companies have tried to create mirror-based systems to eliminate the conversion process, but these systems tend to be slow and bulky. Switches built with nanoscale MEMS-activated mirrors, however, promise to overcome the limitations of current solutions. That\u2019s the approach taken by switch maker OMM<\/a>. Their MEMS-based optical switches have been carrying live network traffic since early last year. OMM recently announced a 32 X 32 switch which they claim reduces the cost of switching 32 channels by 70 percent.<\/p>\n

By now you get the idea that nanotechnology is far from science fiction. It\u2019s here, in production, and revolutionizing many industries. I\u2019ve just scratched the surface here, and haven\u2019t even talked about important nanotechnology concepts like self-replication<\/a>. (For a glimpse of what a future driven by nanotech might look like, I heartily recommend two books: Neal Stephenson\u2019s The Diamond Age<\/a><\/i>, and William Gibson\u2019s Virtual Light<\/a><\/i>.) Companies who make things for a living need to be aware of the challenges posed by new advances in nanotechnology. Even those who make such old tech products as ball bearings need to be aware. The picture at the left represents a concept of ananoscale ball bearing<\/a>, which might have the capability to accelerate from zero to 500 billion revolutions per second in a fraction of a nanosecond. No one\u2019s building it yet, but just wait.<\/p>\n

O, Future! I summon thee!<\/p>\n

ZDNet Australia<\/a><\/p>\n

Briefly Noted<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n