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| Nanotechnology Now:
Nanotechnology may be at its early stages
but emerging companies and others realize its potential |
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Michael Wijaranakula
Staff Researcher, Infotix
Systems, Inc. - June 2, 2004
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Nanotechnology is one of the newest terms in science today that has the greatest future potential for new or existing corporations and organizations.
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President Bush proposed in the 2005 budget to provide the National Nanotechnology Initiative
(NNI), a U.S. government institute to research
nanotechnology, with $1 billion dollars for research and development. Other advanced science and technology countries such as South Korea, China and Canada, also continue to research
nanotechnology. Venture capitalists are now taking note of the potential of nanotechnology and are investing in this new idea because of its possible growth in many of the sectors of the world economy.
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| The medical and biotech industries are taking advantage of the new technology to make
nano-size drugs to destroy diseases or cancers more effectively than current drugs. In December, Los Angeles, CA-based biotech company American Pharmaceutical Partners [NASDAQ:
APPX] and ABRAXIS Oncology, the proprietary drug division of APP, announced positive results of their controlled Phase III clinical trial in patients with metastatic breast cancer.
Patients receiving their product
ABRAXANETM , achieved almost a doubling of the tumor response rate when compared to those patients receiving Bristol-Myers Squibb Company’s
[NYSE:BMY] TAXOL®. The Nanoparticle Albumin-Bound (nab) technology used integrates biocompatible proteins with drugs to create the nanoparticle form of the drug, believed to play a role in increased penetration of the active drug into tumor tissue.
Although there are no commercial
nano-scale products in the market yet, companies are heavily investing in product design, the development of
nano-manufacturing tools and processes, measurement equipment and methodology as well as materials.
One of a major challenges in the manufacturing of a nano-scale object is its measurement and inspection, done primarily by high-resolution imaging techniques using the scanning electron microscope
(SEM), atomic force microscope (AFM), and the scanning tunneling microscope
(STM),
sold by such companies including privately held Ames, IA-based
Novascan, Nanoscience Instruments, Inc. in Phoenix, AZ, and Veeco Instruments
[NASDAQ:VECO] from Woodbury, NY.
Semiconductor companies like Intel Corporation [NASDAQ:
INTC] are already using nanotechnology in their products. Intel’s recently released Pentium 4 Extreme Edition, changed to a 90-nanometer process using SiGe strained silicon verses their older Pentium 4 130-nanometer process which has resulted in faster processing and more speed for users, demonstrating a double-digit increase in speed and a over one-third reduction in power consumption compared to devices fabricated on normal bulk silicon.
Last year, United Microelectronics Corporation [NYSE-ADR:UMC], Taiwan’s second largest semiconductor foundry, introduced its strained silicon technology in its high performance CMOS chip process using wafers supplied by AmberWave Systems, a small silicon supplier based in Salem, NH. UMC claimed that its strained silicon process exhibited a significant CMOS performance enhancement with over 20% current driving capability successfully demonstrated on a 70-nm strained silicon transistor with a speed enhancement of over 10% on a test circuit. |
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KLA Tencor [NASDAQ:KLAC], the leader of in-line chip inspection tools, could also benefit from
nanotech-based chip process development. AmberWave has been working closely with KLA Tencor for more than one year on the characterization of surface quality of strained silicon wafers using KLA’s Surfscan SP1.
To capture the growing market share of silicon wafers used in
nanotech-based chip technology, a large volume commercial silicon wafer supplier, MEMC Electronic Materials Inc.
[NYSE:WFR], is now investing in new developments by signing an agreement with the Inter-university MicroElectronics Center in
Leuven, Belgium, to license advanced IMEC's strained silicon technology. The licensing agreement will allow MEMC to produce blanket strained silicon bulk wafers using IMEC's thin strain relaxed buffer
(SRB) technology. By participating in the program, MEMC researchers work within IMEC in cooperation with researchers from several semiconductor device manufacturers, with the goal of improved device performance by implementing strained silicon in the transistor channel regions.
As
nanotechnology continues to make its mark on the technology
industry, more companies will likely emerge, poised to take
advantage.
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About
NMS Research Analysis:
NMS Research Analysis is a service of Infotix Systems, offering
in-depth research analysis of high-tech companies and emerging
technology in sectors ranging from semiconductors, biotech,
nanotechnology, IT hardware and data storage to wireless, Internet
and consumer electronics.
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