FROM HISTORY OF NANOTECHNOLOGIES

One nanometer (from Greek “nano”-dwarf) equals to one billionth of a meter. At this distance, one can place 10 atoms close to each other. Perhaps, the first scientist who used this unit of measure was Albert Einstein, who theoretically proved in 1905 that the size of a sugar molecule equals to one nanometer. But only 26 years later, German physicists Ernest Ruska, a Nobel prize winner of 1986, and Max Cnall created an electron microscope, ensuring 15fold magnification (less than existing at that times optical microscopes); this microscope became a prototype of a new generation of such devices that enabled scientists to look into nanoworld.

1932. Fritz Tsernike, a Dutch professor, who became a Nobel prize winner in 1953 invented a phase-contrast microscope – a kind of an optical microscope that improved quality of a picture where details were better and more clearly seen. Using this microscope, Fritz Tsernike studied live cells (formerly, for this purpose there had been used dyes, killing live tissues). Interesting, that Tsernike offered his invention to the firm “Tsase”, but the managers didn’t consider it to be promising, though, nowadays, such microscopes are widely used in medicine.

1939.The company Siemens, where Ruska was working, produced the first commercial electron microscope with allowing possibility of 10 nm.

Date of birth of nanotechnologies is considered to be December 29, 1959. Professor of California Technological Institute Richard Feinman (A Nobel prize winner of 1956) in his lecture “There’s plenty of room at the bottom” that he read to American physical society, noted that it’s possible to use atoms as building particles.

1966. Russell Yang, an American physicist, who worked in the National Bureau of Standards, invented a piezoengine that is used today in scanning tunnel microscopes correct to 0,01 angstrom (1 nanometer = 10 angstroms).

1968. Executive vice-president of the company Bell Alfred Cho and John Arthur, working in the section of researches of semiconductors, grounded theoretical possibility to use nanotechnologies while solving a problem of surface processing and reaching atomic precision when creating electronic devices.

1971.Russel Yang suggested an idea of a device called Topografiner that became a prototype of a probe microscope. It took so long to work out these devices as observation of atomic structures led to the change in their state. That’s why it was necessary to find qualitatively new approaches that didn’t destroy the matter under observation.

1974. Norio Taniguchi, a Japanese physicist, working at Tokyo University, suggested a term “nanotechnologies” (the process of separating, assembling and changing materials by influencing them with one atom or one molecule) that gained popularity with scientific circles.

1982. In Zurich Research Center of IBM, physicists Gerd Binning and Genrih Rorer (Nobel Prize winners of 1986 together with Ernst Ruska) created a scanning tunnel microscope (STM) that enabled them to build three-dimensional picture of arrangements of atoms on surfaces of conducting materials.
1985.Three American chemists: Professor of Raisse University Richard Smelly, as well as Robert Curl and Harold Croto (Nobel prize winners of 1996) discovered fullerens- molecules consisting of 60 atoms of carbon, arranged in the form of sphere. These scientists also were the first who managed to measure an object of 1 nm.

1986. Gerd Binning worked out a scanning atomic- power probe microscope that enabled him to visualize at last atoms of different materials (not only conducting) and to manipulate them.
1986. Eric Drecsler, an American scientist, working at the laboratory of artificial intellect of Massachusetts Technological Institute, wrote a book “Engines of Creation”, where he suggested a conception of universal molecular robots, assembling anything you want (including the robots like them), using available molecules.
1987-1988. In Scientific Research Institute “Delta” under the guidance of Luskinovich P.N., there started working the first Russian nanotechnological plant that made particles leave the edge of a microscope probe under the influence of heating.

1989. Scientists Donald Agler and Erhard Shvetzer from California Scientific Center of IBM managed to lay out the name of their company on a crystal of nickel with 35 xenon atoms.
1991. Sumio Ligima, a Japanese professor working in the company NEC, used fullerens to create carbon tubes (or nano tubes) 0,8nm in diameter. On their basis, nowadays, there are produced materials that are hundred times firmer than steel.

1991. In the USA there started working the first nanotechnological program of National scientific fund. The same activity was planned by the government of Japan. Though, in Europe the state started supporting such researches only in 1997.

1996. Robert Curl (the USA), Sir Harold Croto (Great Britain), Richard Smelly (the USA) became Nobel Prize winners “for discovery of fullerens”.
1997. Eric Drecsler declared that by 2020 it would become possible to assemble nano devices of separate atoms in industry. Up to now, all his prognoses have become true ahead of time.

1998. Siz Decker, a Dutch professor of Technical University of Delfts crated a transistor on the basis of nanotubes, using them as molecules. For this purpose he was the first person in the world who measured conductivity of such a molecule.

In Japan there started a program “Astroboy” that dealt with development of nano electronics, capable of working under conditions of space cold and heat of 1000°.
1999.American scientists- professor of physics Mark Rid (Yale University) and professor of chemistry James Tur (Raisse University)- worked out common principles of manipulating both a molecule and a chain consisting of molecules.

2000. Frantz Gissible, a German physicist, discovered subatomic particles in silicon.

His colleague, Robert Magerle suggested a technology of nanotomography – creation of three-dimensional picture of matter internal structure with permission of 100nm. The project was financed by the company Volkswagen.

The government of the USA opened National Nanotechnological Initiative (NNI). This trend was provided with 270 million dollars from budget money, commercial companies invested in it 10 times more.

2001. Real financing of NNI exceeded the planned sum (442 million) by 42 million.

2002. Siz Decker joined carbon tube with DNA and created a single nanomechanism.

Financing of NNI made up 697 million dollars (97 more than it had been planned).
2003. NNI was given 770 million dollars. In the budget of NNI for 2004 is a sum of 849 million dollars.

This article contains prognoses from the document “International Strategy for Nanotechnology Research and Development” 2001. (Committee on Science and Technologies at the Government of the USA, nano.gov) and account of 2003 “Future Technologies, Today’s Choices” of London University, prepared by it to order of GreenPeace, as well as materials of Institute of Foresight (foresight.com).
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The article was published in PC Week/RE № 44 from 25.11.2003, p.52, and № 45 from 02.12.2003, p.55