Future Technology Trends

The idea of building structures on the nanoscale atom-by-atom in an assembly line fashion has been around for a while now. Academics have made progress towards this goal. A DNA type device is one possible method to obtain these capabilities in the immediate future. Unfortunately, many futurists employ the concept of nanofactories to promote a variety of improbable outcomes. The idea of superabundance is one prediction that flies in the face of known economics. Advances in nanotechnology often tend to be evolutionary not revolutionary. With all the innovations in the past few decades, buying many items at the store has not become significantly cheaper. In the coming years, there probably won’t be some disruptive economic development, even if nanoscientists create something resembling the nanofactory speculations. The buzzwords “exponential manufacturing” make certain people believe that there will be changes that are greater than the industrial revolution. Over the past few decades, an enormous amount of money has been pouring into fabricating tiny parts. It is all too easy to overstate the nanorevolution and its impact on the world.  Read More »

Biological cellular-based nanorobotics may be able to piggyback on what evolution has already accomplished. Instead of miniature machines, these would be genetically engineered “intelligent” artificial cells. They may have a greater range of abilities than their evolved counterpart as they would be designed to fulfill specific niches. There has been recent work on genetic logic gates for robust digital-like synthetic biology. This is dissimilar to how an electronic circuit runs. The operation happens by way of signal transduction, instead of the flow of current. It might be easier to function in a messy environment. Another mechanism for computation is microbial nanowires derived from the bacterium Geobacter sulfurreducens. The filaments conduct electricity. They are 3 to 5 nanometers in size and can be several micrometers in length. Perhaps these could be utilized in a cell to provide information-processing capabilities. A protein memristor might even enable a nano-neural network for a tiny brain.  Read More »

Stanford University scientists are utilizing tailored nanostructures in order to construct superior cathode materials for batteries. There are limits to some rechargable lithium-ion technology due to a relatively low energy storage density. This means it is not ideal for certain fields such as in electric cars. Their technique builds the cathode with sulfur-coated hollow carbon nanofibers. They also introduce a special electrolyte additive as well. Next generation designs will combine silicon nanowire anodes with the covered carbon cathodes. Sulfur enables a larger storage capacity than what is currently possible. It is also non-toxic and abundantly available. Portable computers could remain activated for a much longer period with these breakthroughs.  Read More »

Researchers from the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne are investigating stencil lithography as a possible way to build nanostructures. This might synthesize microchips in a rapid and inexpensive fashion. There are several advantages with this type of technology and it could lead to improved computers. It may be capable of making circuits that have large-scale integrations of many transistors. For the technique, they put a silicon wafer in an evaporator. On top of this is a stencil that has apertures. These openings are 100 to 200 nanometers in size. As a metal evaporates near it, the stencil acts like a mask. The molecules move through the openings and then deposit on the substrate in a confined manner. Its precise nature allows it to create well-aligned components. The idea behind this is not new. However, it has previously been a challenge to do this on the nanometer level. It is similar to how spray paint can go through a designed shape. Read More »

A recent conference covered progress towards greener information technology.  The CHIST-ERA is a European coordinated research program for long-term challenges.  Many of the speakers are part of the European zero power consortium.  A main goal of this venture is to take advantage of gains in nanomaterials.  Several methods can allow electronics to harvest ambient energy from the environment.  Nanotechnology will help researchers design self-sustaining devices that can run without the need for batteries.  One such avenue to accomplish this is with thermoelectric designs.   Read More »

Scientists from the US Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have used a nanoimprinting technique to increase the performance of solar cells.  The imprinter is one of the more promising fabrication technologies that have come about.  It is a cost effective tool and enables the production of uniform wafers in a single patterning step.  A variety of fields such as microfluidic, biochemical and telecommunications could take advantage of the technology.  Polymers are long chained molecules and some of them have the capability of converting light into electricity.  Attaining a finer control over these thin film materials has been a major goal for the organic photovoltaic industry.  The nanotechnology imprinting process uses a template etched with 100 nanometer spaced grooves.  This can stamp the compound poly-3(hexylthiophene) (also known as P3HT) in order to alter its orientation and morphology.  All of this happens as they heat the chemicals to 150 degrees Celsius. The scientists showed a high fidelity of the pattern transfer using the technology.  It induced a polymer backbone alignment along the grooves of the imprinter. The 50-nanometer spaces correspond to a width of only 100 molecules. Read More »

Researchers have developed a new approach that can help boost the storage density of capacitors by using graphene and single walled carbon nanotubes. The technology is becoming a contender to replace other types of batteries for specific applications. This nanotech stores power in an electric field generated by charged particles. A benefit of supercapacitors is that they can recharge very quickly, whereas regenerating chemical reactions takes more time. They also have a much longer lifespan while retaining their original capabilities. When plugged into an outlet, there is only a movement of charges and this process does not produce the kind of reactant products that could degrade performance. The ultracapacitors can rapidly release electricity as well and this happens much faster than with chemical batteries. A main problem with the tech is that they normally have low energy densities and this has restricted their use. The splitting of chemical bonds can usually release a much greater amount of juice. Over the past few years, records have been shattered with novel electrode materials and this work continues that trend. Read More »

Robots or nanodevices of the future may have mechanical segments replaced with softer parts that mimic what can be found in nature.  This will enable the machines to have a much wider range of behaviors than what is currently possible.  Researchers are developing new tools to create an array of flexible biomimetics.  A conference is taking place a little over a month from now and will discuss progress towards the goals of more versatile robotics.  Many of these advances could be used to create care-taker bots that can look after people who are older.  Bio-compatible actuators may also facilitate improved human cybernetic interfaces or remote controllable insects.   Read More »

Historically, hard drive capacity has doubled in size approximately every year or so. Recently this trend has slowed to around every two years. The first 3.5-inch terabyte drive was introduced in 2007. In 2009, this number was increased to two.  Four terabyte devices are probably going to be sold on the market between 2011 or 2012.  New technologies will propel further growth in this area.  Existing techniques are already reaching fundamental barriers that will impede progress. Perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) technology is expected to reach a limit of about one terabit per square inch because of superparamagnetic affects. There are a number of ways to overcome these density constraints.  Thermally or heat assisted magnetic recording is being investigated by A*STAR researchers as a novel way to make more capacious electronic devices.  This is one of the most promising future methods.   Read More »

A number of new projects are helping to advance the science of harvesting energy from the environment for electronics or nano-products. This research could eventually allow nanosensors to be completely autonomous and require no recharging whatsoever.  Another goal is to transform waste heat from circuit functioning back into electricity to enable greener electronics.  This can be accomplished with performance breakthroughs in novel thermoelectrics. The work is taking place under the umbrella of the ZeroPower consortium for information and communications technology. It is being funded in the European Commission’s Future and Emerging Technologies initiative. Read More »