Nanotechnology Global Strategies, Industry Trends and Applications phần 5 ppsx

fibrils, formed in a biological process that might be useful for producing ultra-fine

wires.

TCD is also developing a detailed atomic-level understanding of the methods

used in silicon processing. This should dramatically improve the ability to

control growth and etching of ultra-thin material layers The plan is to develop

new protocols for assembling, fabricating and testing nanometre-scale device

structures, to identify the essential building blocks for nanometre-scale devices,

and to establish predictive rules for the assembly and performance of these

devices.

At University College Galway, a set of spectacles is being developed that can

give ‘super vision’. The approach, termed adaptive optics, uses novel electronics,

computer power and light-sensing devices to improve our view of the world,

and is already being used to enhance the images captured by earth-based tele￾scopes. Here the technique is being employed to get a clearer view of the back of

the retina.

The Irish National Nanofabrication Facility (NNF) was set up at the

National Microscience Research Centre (NMRC) in Cork in 1999 with funding

of s12.7 million from the Higher Education Authority of Ireland. It is the

only such facility in Ireland and Britain and allows university and industrial

researchers access to an R&D platform. Nanotechnology research at NMRC

covers the design, synthesis, fabrication and characterisation of nanostructures

and nanosystems. The NMRC objectives are to

develop a new understanding of nanoscale phenomena and construct new

nanoscale structures, devices and systems;

use these new nanoscale systems as a tool kit to develop new applications in

science and engineering.

NMRC aims to provide a complete nanotechnology development loop to enable

innovative exploitation of nanosystems specifically within emerging ICT applica￾tion areas, e.g. nanoscale electronics, and at the interface between ICT and other

disciplines, e.g. with photonics (nanophotonics) and with life sciences (nanobio￾technology). One of the SFI-funded projects at the NMRC looks at photonic

software and examines the ways to improve the fundamental understanding of

photonic materials and devices and enable the design of structures for new

capabilities and applications.

The Irish Nanotechnology Association was established in 2002 by Enterprise

Ireland to encourage the development of nanomaterials and processes by Irish

industry. The key objectives are to

make companies aware of the benefits of nanomaterials;

highlight state-of-the-art research ongoing in Ireland and promote technology

transfer from academia to industry;

Nanotechnology in Europe 65

encourage the development of nanotech companies through spin-offs from the

universities and the institutes of technology;

encourage collaboration between researchers and industry.

The association is managed by the Materials Ireland Polymer Research Centre, a

programme in advanced technologies (PAT). Visit www.nanotechireland.com/.

3.4.8 Italy

Italian research is excellent in some fields leading to successes in traditional sectors

and in those with medium or high technology content, such as instrument

mechanics, robotics, microelectronics, optoelectronics and biomedical technolo￾gies. Italy’s science and technology guidelines include priority areas for nanotech￾nology, intelligent materials and sustainable development and climate change and

governance in a knowledge-based society. Nanotechnologies and material devel￾opment are seen as the key to development of other macro-areas such as instrument

mechanics, telecommunications, energy, environment, transports, agro-food, health

and cultural heritage. With this is mind, there is a strong emphasis on multisectoral

enabling technologies.

The automotive sector is actively taking up microsystems and nanotechno￾logy for improving car safety and for catalysts, paints, and structural and func￾tional materials. In the health sector, nanotechnology is being investigated for

longer-term applications in pharmacy on chips, nanoparticles and gene therapy,

surfaces for medical implants and tissues and organic silicon interfaces.

Minatech is an economic and technological intelligence (ETI) project looking

at trends in micro- and nanotechnologies and applications and markets for these

technologies.

Italian funding for nanotechnology research almost quadrupled in the period

1997–2000. Funding comes from the Ministry of Scientific Research and the

National Institute for Physics of Matter (INFM) and the National Research Council

(CNR). In the past, CNR funded a national research programme in nanotechnology

(1998–2000), with L8 billion (about £2.5 million pounds, or s4 million) of

government funding. This programme focused on three lines:

nanotechnology and molecular devices for electronics;

nanomaterials and nanodevices for the biomedical sector;

nanostructures for other applications.

Participating research groups were located in universities and national research

centres of CNR and the National Energy Research organisation ENEA.

INFM has invested s3 million in a new laboratory in southern Italy at the

University of Lecce dedicated to nanotechnology. Agilent Technologies Inc. and the

University of Lecce have signed a technical cooperation agreement in the field

of inorganic and organic photonic technologies and devices for fibre-optic

66 Nanotechnology