Nano tecnolgy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Nano tecnolgy - Research Paper Example Theoretically, the ability to construct multiple devices that maintain components of nano-scale would make it feasible to install, literally, billions of different minute-size transistors onto only a single chip that are able to operate at gigahertz frequencies (Drexler). Such chips represent the physical technology of nano-tech that have the capability of producing valuable information machinery. It was in the early 2000s that the functionality and opportunities of nanotechnology came into the forefront of the scientific community consciousness. In the year 2000, American President Bill Clinton enacted the National Nanotechnology Initiative which provided federal funding for nanotechnology research and development. This funding represented a $422 million budget allocated toward this research, illustrating a massive 56 percent funding increase from 1999 (Roukes 2002). This prompted the launch of 30 different nanotechnology research centres in the United States and prompted the development of inter-disciplinary teams to teach and develop nanotechnologies in universities (Roukes). Today, this nano-mania has spread beyond the United States with the European Union committing to a â‚ ¬100 billion investment through the year 2020 (Nanowerk 2012) and Japan investing 750 million USD to facilitate advancement in nanotechnology (The Daily Star 2012). Nanotechnology, theoretically, maintains many different opportunities in multiple domains of knowledge and science. Research is being conducted to utilise nanotechnology in the production of solar cells (for solar energy), to construct what are referred to as nano-pillars designed to contest the rising costs of Silicon commonly utilised in solar energy research. Nano-pillars consist of various nanostructures that are combined together in a lattice formation that is much more efficient in capturing solar light as compared to silicon (Heng 2011). Nanotechnology is also emerging in the medical field for more efficient drug