A Short History of Nanotechnology: 1958-2011
From: Mind Weapon (pdf)
1959: Feynman gives after-dinner talk describing molecular machines building with
atomic precision
1974: Taniguchi uses term “nano-technology” in paper on ion-sputter machining
1977: Drexler originates molecular nanotechnology concepts at MIT
1981: First technical paper on molecular engineering to build with atomic
precision STM invented
1985: Buckyball discovered
1986: First book published, AFM invented; First organization formed
1987: First protein engineered; First university symposium
1988: First university course
1989: IBM logo spelled in individual atoms: First national conference
1990: First nanotechnology journal; Japan’s STA begins funding nanotech projects
1991: Japan”s MITI announces bottom-up “atom factory”; IBM endorses bottom-up path
Japan’s MITI commits $200 million; Carbon nanotube discovered
1992: First textbook published; First Congressional testimony
1993: First Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology awarded for modeling a hydrogen
abstraction tool useful in nanotechnology: First coverage of nanotech from White House “Engines of Creation” book given to Rice administration, stimulating first
university nanotech center
1994: Nanosystems textbook used in first university course; US Science Advisor advocates nanotechnology
1995: First think tank report; First industry analysis of military applications;
Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology awarded for synthesis of complex three-dimensional structures with DNA molecules
1996: $250,000 Feynman Grand Prize announced: First European conference; NASA begins work in computational nanotech; First nanobio conference
1997: First company founded: Zyvex; First design of nanorobotic system;
Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology awarded for work in computational
nanotechnology and using scanning probe microscopes to manipulate molecules
1998; First NSF forum, held in conjunction with Foresight Conference; First DNA-based nanomechanical device; Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology awarded for computational modeling of molecular tools for atomically-precise chemical reactions and for building molecular structures through the use of self-organization
1999: First Nanomedicine book published; First safety guidelines; Congressional hearings on proposed National Nanotechnology Initiative; Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology awarded for development of carbon nanotubes for potential computing device applications and for modeling the operation of molecular machine designs
2000: President Clinton announces U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative: First state research initiative: $100 million in California; Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology awarded for computational materials science for nanostructures and for building a molecular switch
2001: First report on nanotech industry; U.S. announces first center for military applications; Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology awarded for theory of nanometer-scale
electronic devices and for synthesis and characterization of carbon nanotubes
and nanowires
2002: First nanotech industry conference; Regional nanotech efforts multiply;
Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology awarded for using DNA to enable the self-
assembly of new structures and for advancing our ability to model molecular
machine systems
2003: Congressional hearings on societal implications; Call for balancing NNI research portfolio; Drexler/Smalley debate is published in Chemical & Engineering News; Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology awarded for modeling the molecular and
electronic structures of new materials and for integrating single molecule
biological motors with nano-scale silicon devices
2004: First policy conference on advanced nanotech: First center for nanomechanical systems; Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology awarded for designing stable protein
structures and for constructing a novel enzyme with an altered function
2005: At Nanoethics meeting, Roco announces nanomachine/nanosystem project count
has reached 300 Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology awarded for designing a wide variety of single molecular functional nanomachines and for synthesizing macromolecules of intermediate sizes with designed shapes and functions
2006: National Academies nanotechnology report calls for experimentation
toward molecular manufacturing; Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology awarded for work in molecular computation and algorithmic self-assembly, and for producing complex two-dimensional arrays of DNA nanostructures
2007: Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology awarded for construction of molecular
machine systems that function in the realm of Brownian motion, and molecular
machines based upon two-state mechanically interlocked compounds
2008: Technology Roadmap for Productive Nanosystems released; Protein catalysts designed for non-natural chemical reactions; Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology awarded for work in molecular electronics; and the synthesis of molecular motors and nanocars, and for theoretical contributions to nanofabrication and sensing
2009: An improved walking DNA nanorobot; Structural DNA nanotechnology arrays devices to capture molecular building blocks Design ‘from scratch’ of a small protein that performed the function performed by natural globin proteins Organizing functional components on addressable DNA scaffolds Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology
awarded for experimental demonstrations of mechanosynthesis using AFM to
manipulate single atoms, and for computational analysis of molecular tools to
build complex molecular structures
2010: DNA-based ‘robotic’ assembly begins; Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology awarded for work in single atom manipulations and atomic switches, and for development of quantum mechanical methods for theoretical predictions of molecules and solids
2011: First programmable nanowire circuits for nanoprocessors: DNA molecular robots learn to walk in any direction along a branched track; Mechanical manipulation of silicon dimers on a silicon surface