ARTVILLE

importantly, its own comparative advantages. Above all, there

anotechnology was a grand futuristic vision that
must be an industrialization focus. Only thus could its
has, over the last decade, started to work its way
relatively modest resources be used for truly meaningful and,
back toward the reality of serious marketplace
hopefully, even disproportional gains.
applications. In doing so it has become the powerful
Nanotechnology represents a most fundamental paradigm
force that it is destined to bea force that will change
shift. Until now, technology has been only one way from the
traditional industries in the near future, dominate the
top downwhere we start with sizable pieces of materials and
competition in high technology a few years down the road,
work them down toward ever smaller and more
and permeate all manufacturing and processing in
precise dimensions. Doing things this way has
about a decades time. Along the way, it will
Jih Chang Yang become ever harder as the dimensions we have to
banish its own hypes, create hugely compelling
deal with are becoming ever tinier.
market values, and define industrial
There is, fortunately, an alternative now. Scientific
competitiveness for nations for years to come. For a small and
progress has accumulated a critical mass. We are now in postechnology-driven economy like Taiwan, making plans to win
session of enough tools and capabilities that would allow us to
a place in this fiercely contested global race to the bottom
go the other directionfrom the bottom upwhere we start
requires a truly coherent effort that matches not only the
with building blocks measured in nanometers (a nanometer is
countrys nanotechnology aspirations but also, much more

44

8755-3996/04/$20.00 2004 IEEE

IEEE CIRCUITS & DEVICES MAGAZINE

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2004

one billionth of a meter) and work our way up. It opens up a

vast store of heretofore-inaccessible innovating opportunities
that are fast becoming a main driving force for differentiation
across a wide range of products and industries. Such are the
promises of nanotechnology.

less open ended. There needs to be a much stronger emphasis

on R&D investment returns. For these reasons, over 60% of
the national program resources had been targeted at the
industrialization of nanotechnology, the highest such concentration amongst all of the national programs of the world.

DEFINING NANOTECHNOLOGY

INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY
RESEARCH INSTITUTE

A nanometer is a very, very small scale, and smallness surely

has its allures. However, the central point about nanotechnology is not smallness itself, but the abundance of brand new
substance properties that can only be uncovered and accessed
through the abilities to observe, control, and manipulate the
very small. The true value of nanotechnology is derived
through capturing these brand-new substance properties and
capturing them in cost-effective, market-viable ways. From
this perspective, nanotechnology (as opposed to nanoscience)
can be defined as:
technologies that lead to applications derived from harnessing new substance properties through the abilities
to control and manipulate substances in length scales
smaller than 100 nm
that these applications are, or have realistic prospects to
become, cost performance superior and market-viable.
Technologies that do not comply with the first requirement
are not nano technologies. Those that do not comply with
the second will have little significance, as far as being technology is concerned. The latter is an especially important
consideration. Either we make the technology cost effective
enough or find applications with values-added high enough to
justify the costs.

TAIWANS NATIONAL
NANOTECHNOLOGY PROGRAM
As an economy that specializes in high-technology manufacturing, Taiwan will not be absent in this global race to the
bottom. In June 2002 the government approved an NT$21.5
billion (approximately US$630 million) national nanotechnology program to be conducted over the six-year period, starting
in 2003.
Even at an average of about US$100 million a yearthe
largest investment ever made by the government on a single
R&D topic, Taiwans National Nanotechnology Program is still
considerably smaller in size compared to similar such programs of the larger economies. The governments of the United
States (at US$774 million for the year 2003 and going on to
US$847 million in 2004), Japan (US$810 million for the year
2003 and could be more in 2004) and Europe (US$1.7 billion
for the years 2002 to 2006 by the European Union alone) are
all committing much larger sums, and their annual budget
numbers over the past few years didnt just increase, they multiplied. Never was an R&D topic so vigorously pursued by all of
the technologically significant economies of the world, and
there can be little doubt that the coming nanotechnology battles in the global marketplace will be some of the fiercest ever.
For a small economy like Taiwan competing for a place in
this great race, its national program would have to be much
IEEE CIRCUITS & DEVICES MAGAZINE

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2004

More than half of Taiwans National Nanotechnology Program, or over 80% of its industrialization tasks, will be led by
the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI)Taiwans center for the development and dissemination of industrial technologies.
ITRI was founded in 1973 by the government of Taiwan
ROC as a nonprofit R&D institution to spearhead the building
and development of Taiwans high-tech industries and attend
to the technological needs of Taiwans industries in general.
Over the past 30 years its R&D programs have played a key
role in the birth and the rise of many of Taiwans technologyintensive industries such as semiconductors, PCs, optoelectronics, wireless communications, displays, advanced
materials, and chemicals through timely technology transfers
and spin-offs.
Today, ITRI is a 6,000-person organization with an annual
budget of about US$475 million, split roughly 50/50 between
government-sponsored R&D programs and commercial contract services. Information and communications technologies
are by far the main focus of its R&D activities, accounting for
more than 50% in overall resource allocation. Management
wise, ITRI focuses on real industrial impact and is very output
oriented. In each year it would license about 350 new technologies to over 500 companies. These licensing activities are
backed up by an annual granting of around 1,000 patents.

SURVEYING THE NANOTECHNOLOGY LANDSCAPE

From an industrialization-focused mindset, we see the overall
landscape of nanotechnology as being composed of three
distinctive zones: long-term grand visions, immediate applications, and strategic industry applications. Each has its own
unique characteristics and should be approached differently.

Zone 1: Long-Term Grand Visions

These are the most popular nanotechnology research topics of
todaylike putting things together molecule by molecule,
understanding and mimicking how nature builds things, trying to shrink macroworld machineries to the nanometer scale
and do amazing things with them, building brand new computing paradigms, and developing a wide variety of ultra-precision
drug delivery technologies. Epochal changes are envisioned.
Things short of being revolutionary need not apply here.
These revolutionary research topics represent, of course, the
finest of human ingenuity and aspirations, and one day they
may indeed become totally transformational. However, that
one day is most likely 15 to 20 years away. Nanotechnology is
not going to wait that long to get off the starting blocks. Myriad
less epochal applications are already proliferating today, and
45

concrete developmental plans for

major nanotechnology-based
products across a wide range of
technology-intensive industries,
complete with firm performance
targets and road maps, are
already being devised and
launched at many leading corporations and institutions. According to authoritative projections
in both United States and Japan,
the world nanotechnology market size will grow to approximately US$1trillion dollars
annually within the next 10 to
15 years. That means if one is to
focus solely on the revolutionary
applications of zone 1, one is making plans to skip the first several trillions dollars worth of nanotechnology market values.
Does that mean these types of nanotechnology research are
not worth pursuing? Not at all. Real applications here may be
iffy and will take a long time to emerge from the laboratories,
but the brand new technological competencies developed in
the pursuit of these applications will be highly significant.
They may very well become highly useful long before the
intended applications are to be spotted anywhere close to the
marketplace.

Never was an R&D topic so

vigorously pursued by all of
the technologically significant
economies of the world, and
there can be little doubt that
the coming nanotechnology
battles in the global
marketplace will be some
of the fiercest ever.

Zone 2: Immediate Applications

On the extreme opposite end of the nanotechnology landscape
are the much more mundane applications in the not very
technology-intensive traditional industries. Here, advances
are more material driven and incremental in nature. A large
number of new products created through mere changes in
coating constitutions, surface properties, material compositions, simple alterations of manufacturing processes, and a
wide array of smart and immediate applications of nanotechnology-based materials and techniques will be coming to the
marketplace not in a few years, but right now.
R&D here is totally application driven. Entry barriers are
low. Anybody, in fact, can do it. Opportunities for innovation
are limitless. Numbers and speed are the important assets in
this kind of competition. For national programs, the things
to do are to enable as many entrants as possible so that they
can join the chase as fast as possible (while cautioning them
to always look out for things like market viability and cost
effectiveness, so that they wont lose their shirts in the
euphoria). Successfully commercialized nanotechnology
products in the next three to four years will be dominated by
these nonrevolutionary applications. Substantial industries
such as textiles, metals and alloys, plastics and polymers, specialty chemicals, pigments and paints, and papers will be
affected in fundamental ways.
Returns on R&D investment here will be immediate, provided the products are indeed differentiating and marketviable, not just nano for nanos sake. No national-level
46

nanotechnology program can

afford to overlook these incremental opportunities. Its nearterm nature is, of course, also
its main weakness. Concentrating ones R&D resources here
would be aiming far too low.

Zone 3: Strategic Industry

Applications

The most significant nanotechnology opportunities for the

next 10 to 15 years will be
found here. These are applications driven already by the
exponential forces of Moores
law or some other named or
unnamed laws that might be as fast or faster. These are the
technologies of semiconductors, displays, data storage, optoelectronics, photonics, and communications. For these applications, nanotechnology will be like adding fuel to the fire.
Together with nanotechnology-enabled new materials, the
more manufacturing-driven portions of the bio- and pharmaceutical technologies and emerging energy storage and efficiency technologies, this is the one part of the overall
nanotechnology landscape where the most riches will be the
most vigorously contested for.
A sense of why this is the most important nanotechnology
segment for the next 10 to 15 years can be taken from the
nanotechnology market sizes projections done by the
Japanese Keidenren (all industry association) in its white
paper on nanotechnologyN Plan 21. Total world market size
for nanotechnology was projected by N Plan 21 to reach 10
trillion yen annually by 2005 and 133 trillion yen by 2010
(roughly consistent with U.S. governments official projectionUS$1 trillion in the next 10 to 15 years), a 13-time
expansion. What stood out was, in those five years, projected
world market size for nanotechnology-based information and
electronics products were projected to grow from 2.7 trillion
to 67 trillion yen (about half of the total nanotechnology market size)a 25-time expansion. That means the five-year
hypergrowth period for nanotechnology between 2005 and
2010 will be dominated by the advances in the electronics and
information sectors.
R&D in this zone will run on picking the right product
and technology targets, setting aggressive performance goals,
and constantly watching what everybody else are doing. Competition will be as fierce as they come, and everybody will be
on the lookout for collaborations and alliances. Many device
and process technologies will be looking for material technologies to support advances, and many material technologies will be looking for device and process technologies for
application outlets.

ITRIS 20/60/20 APPROACH

Based on this three-zone analysis, ITRI has formulated its
IEEE CIRCUITS & DEVICES MAGAZINE

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2004

nanotechnology program with a 20/60/20 structure to maximize the combined productivity of its overall R&D efforts.

20-Plus Programs
Approximately 20% of overall program resources will go to
zone 2 immediate applications, mostly in traditional industries. ITRIs approach is to position itself as a catalyzer. The
idea is to induce many dollars of private sector R&D investment for every dollar of ITRI expenditure. Figure 1 summarizes this approach. Basically, ITRI will focus on the
development of relevant competencies listed in the middle column, using what we targeted as the flagship (major) applications as vehicles for development. At the same time,
industry-specific nanotechnology consortia led by ITRI would
conceptualize and disseminate a continuous stream of nanotechnology-enabled product ideas (examples given in the
right-hand column) to be developed by our industry partners
as early as possible. To complement this effort, ITRI has also
founded a Nanopowder Service Center to provide the wide variety of building block materials and associated services needed
for expedient product development by our industry customers.

60 Programs
Approximately 60% of overall program resources will go to
zone 3 strategic industry applications. ITRI itself will undertake
the bulk of the research work here, with timely industry participation and academic collaboration, both domestically and internationally. More than half of the R&D resources for the 60

Industrial
Sectors

Plastics Industry

Textiles and Fibers

Industry

programs will be concentrated on the development of five focalpoint applications (descriptions of these will be given later).
Goal setting is a crucial part of planning here. Not setting the
right kind of goals would risk the program being orders of magnitude behind competing offerings from elsewhere.
Zone 3 will be especially meaningful to the smaller
economies that are excellent in technology-based manufacturing. This is where we could play even up with the larger
nations. For ITRI, how to provide convincing R&D leadership
so that we may compel Taiwans strong industries to partner
early with us to compete for a place in the global leadership
pack with each of the technologies we have selected for development would be the most crucial test.

20-Minus Programs
Approximately 20% of overall program resources will go to
frontier research. This part of the program will be planned and
managed according to competencies, not applications. We
dont believe meaningful research programs can be totally free.
At the end of the day, they can have only two kinds of values
either it leads to new applications, or it builds up new competencies. For applications that are projected to arrive only in the
very long term, managing to ensure that competencies would
indeed happen is by far the more important task, whether the
intended applications will materialize or not.
For 20-minus research, defining and selecting relevant
competencies to develop, building new-culture frontier
research clusters, raising a continuous stream of world-class

Core Technologies

Nano Powder, Surface

Treatment, Dispersion, etc.

Nano-Functionalization

Paints/Pigments/
Coating Industry

Innovative Products
Thermal insulation, UV-resistant,
bacteria-resistant, high faderesistant materials
High strength, bacteria-resistant,
abrasion-resistant, electric
conducting, low gas-permeation,
environmentally friendly packing
materials

Porous Nano-Structures

Abrasion-resistant, bacterial/UVresistant, high-temperature stable,

flame retardant, nano color
paste/ink, high thermal-conducting

Nano Interface Processing

Self-cleaning, thermal insulating,

anti-fog

Construction
Industry

Paper Industry
Self-Assembly

Food preservation bags, high quality

printing papers, high-stiffness films
High strength steel aluminum alloys,
abrasion-resisting surface treatment

Metals and Alloys

Industry
Nano Crystal Lattice Control
Chemical Industry

Nano catalysts, sensors, high

thermal conducting materials, glass
coatings

1. ITRI as the catalyzer of nanotechnology applications for Taiwans traditional industries.

IEEE CIRCUITS & DEVICES MAGAZINE

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2004

47

PIs (principal investigators),

and linking the clusters tightly
with our 60 and 20-plus teams
for fast exploitation of frontier
research advances are the key to
success.

Over the past 30 years

ITRIs R&D programs have
played a key role in the
birth and the rise of many
of Taiwans technologyintensive industries.

FOCAL POINTS

ITRIs nanotechnology program

consists of ten major thrust
areas. At the base is our nanomaterial platforms and diagnostic/
processing technology research.
This platform in turn supports a number of industry-facing
applications including nanoelectronics, multiscale packaging,
advanced displays, nanophotonics, high-density data storage,
energy applications, traditional industry applications, and
biomedical applications.
Considerable R&D resources, especially for the 60 portion, will concentrate on five focal-point technologies.
These are major device applications that require significant
contributions from the advances in nanomaterial research.
By combining device and material R&D with our extensive
industry ties, we expect to push the leading edge of these

MTJ

Bit Cell
MTJ Stack
+
Interconnect

Via

Nanoelectronics on Silicon
We believe silicon, and especially CMOS, will be the main platform for nanoelectronics for the foreseeable future, and it is on
silicon that we will focus our nanoelectronic research efforts.
The device portion of the program currently under development
includes magnetoresistive random access memories (MRAM),
phase change memories, strained silicon, and other silicon germanium (SiGe) devices and, further out, organic bistable
devices, resistance random access memories (R-RAM), and other
next generation devices. Besides devices, materials will be

Top Electrode
CoFe/NiFe FM

Via
M4

M4
Via
M3

CMOS

Bit
Line

five technologies that, together with the new competencies

and extended applications produced along the way, will augment Taiwans nanotechnology
excellence for years to come.
They are
nanoelectronics on silicon.
next generation displays
nanophotonic devices
high-density data storage
micro fuel cells.

Word
Line

M4

M4

Via
M4
Via

M3

M3

Via
M2

Via
M2
Via
M1

Via
M1

M1
CNT
N+
S

CNT
N+
D

Digit
Line
Ground
Line

Via
N+
D

Al2O3 Barrier
CoFe FM
Ru
CoFe FM
PtMN AF

Silicon Substrate

Bottom Electrode
M4

BC

MTJ

20 nm

M5

Writing Current (mA)

(a)

Conventional Memory
Area 24 F2

ITRI's New Design

Area 15 F2

150
1.5
140
1.4
ITRI's
Design
130
1.3
Prior
Act
120
1.2
110
1.1
100
1.0
90
0.9
80
0.8
70
0.7
60
0.6
50
0.5
40
0.4
30
0.3
20
0.2
10
0.1
0
0.0
0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35 0.40 0.45

Percentage (%)

M1-3 Via

Spacing Between Writeline and MTJ (m)

(b)

(c)

2. ITRIs MRAM design versus prior art. (a) MRAM cross section and TEM image of MTJ stack. (b) Layout (8 8 array). (c) Current to generate 10
Oe by writeline.

48

IEEE CIRCUITS & DEVICES MAGAZINE

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2004

Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory

increasingly the focal point for electronics in the age of nanotechnology. ITRIs early focus will be on high K gate dielectrics.
This effort will be broadened to include other critical nanomaterial technologies and their integration to future mainstream
integrated circuit (IC) fabrication processes.

MRAM, because of its nonvolatility, nondestructive reading,

fast access speed and high density, is a major emerging memory device, and leading semiconductor manufacturers of the
world are racing to deliver their products to the market,
including those from Taiwan. ITRIs research work in this area
has led to significant innovations (Figure 2). A novel dualmask process was developed that avoids the redeposition problem during tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) etching,
thereby improving magneto tunnel junctions (MTJ) fabrication. New designs bring significant saving on chip real estate
and reduce the writing current by 25 to 75%.

S
Si

Ti Insulator SiO2 CNT

1.0

4
P-type

N-type

0.8

3
Vg = 5V

2
1
0

2. 5V

2.5V

0V
0.5

0.6

Vg = 5V

0V
0
Vds (V)

0.5

0.4
0.2

Drain current, Id(A)

Gate

Nanophotonic Devices
The emphasis now is on lasers and other nextgeneration light sources of various wavelengths
made with self-assembled or defined-growth
quantum dots (QDs) and nanophotonic crystals
that are capable of reducing the size and cost of
optical communication components and systems
substantially. Further down the road, we see QD
lasers and photonic crystals as the key building
blocks to optical circuits.

I-V curves.
Drain current, Id(A)

Next Generation Displays

Displays are a major area of nanotechnology applications. We

believe carbon nanotube field emission displays (CNT FEDs),
with their simple structures and favorable cost-reduction
potential will be a very strong contender in the fast expanding
flat-panel TV market in a few years. Another focal point in the
displays area is flexible, scrollable displays with
much-simplified nanotechnology-integrated
structures and low-cost roll-to-roll fabrication
processes for new, versatile, and cost- effective
applications.
Top-Gate CNTFET

0.0

3. CNT transistors at ITRI: I-V curves for P- and N-types.

Micro Fuel Cells

Truly mobile communications must get rid of not
only the wires but also the cords. We anticipate
high specific energy, thin, flat, room-temperature
micro fuel cells to replace lithium batteries as the
dominant next-generation energy storage media
for all untethered 3C (computer, communications, consumer electronics) products, 12 hours
for notebook computers and 50 days for cell
phones, in the next three to four years.

SAMPLE ONGOING ITRI

NANOTECHNOLOGY
R&D ACTIVITIES
The following are a few examples of the many
nanotechnology research projects we are working on as of the middle of 2003.
IEEE CIRCUITS & DEVICES MAGAZINE

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2004

Front Faceet Output Power, P, mW

High-Density Data Storage

Taiwan is the worlds leading manufacturers of
DVD systems and disks that will soon be moving
into its nano phase. ITRIs nanotechnology program will develop advanced optical and magnetic
data storage and read/write technologies aimed
delivering a series of products with capacities in
the 100 GB range by 2005 and 1 TB before the end
of our six-year national program.

4-922HR/HR
(W,L) = 5m, 0.6mm)
CW at T = 20C)

5 600 m cavity length

jth = 47 A/cm2, HR/HR

30% Al Cladding

2
1.291.301.311.321.33
Wavelenth (m)

Ith : 1.43 mA

0
0

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Current, I, mA
(a)

SEM

TEM

50 nm

50 nm

(b)
4. Development of quantum-dot lasers (InAs/InGaAs structure).
(a) 1.31-m lasing characteristics observed at room temperature.
(b) SEM and TEM images.

49

perature range of 30250 C. In addition, a novel CNT-gate

CNTFET design was also developed with demonstrated ultramarrow gate lengths and the two crossing CNTs both capable
of channel/gate dual functions. These unique characteristics
brings significant versatility to the design and functionalities of
these cutting edge devices which may one day form the basis of
future high density, high performance nanoelectronics.

Carbon Nanotube Field Effect Transistors

Significant advances have also been made with carbon nanotube field effect transistors (CNTFETs) at ITRI (Figure 3).
With the more conventional top-gate design, both P- and Ntypes have been produced with processes completely compatible to existing IC fabrication lines. Their on- and off-current
ratios are over 105 for P-type and over 103 for N-type. Measured
transfer curves indicate that both types are stable in the tem-

Long Wavelength Quantum Dot Lasers

April, 2001
4-in., Mono, 64 256, Diode

QD lasers, with their potential for

higher output power, higher efficiencies, lower threshold current densities,
temperature insensitivity and variable
wavelengths, are viewed as an emerging cornerstone photonic technology
with wide applications. ITRI uses epitaxial methods to grow high quality
InAs/InGaAs QDs and has demonstrated a room temperature, 1.3 m wavelength QD laser with record-low
threshold currents at 1.43 mA (Figure
4). High power output of 150 mW was
also achieved. The lasing characteristics with 45 divergent angle are
among the best the world has recorded. Furthermore, ITRIs InAs/InGaAs
structure comes with higher mechanical strength and better yield than current designs, while its temperatureinsensitivity eliminates the need for
thermal controls. Further development

Gated Emitter Arrays

December, 2002
Panel : 10-in. 240 320 RGB, Triode
Pitch : 500 m 500 m
Brightness ~ 200300 nits
Voltage ~ 150200 V

Cross Section of Gated Emitter

Gate
CNT Dielectric
Cathode
Glass
Va - 1kV
5. Progress in CNT-FED development at ITRI: latest features
(size, color, resolution, structure).

5 nm

10 nm
Carbon Nanocapsules: Filled with Tb

Carbon Nanocapsules: Hollow

(a)

UCL

68.3772

10

Catalyst
Carbon Nanospirals: Structure

90.0000

30% Carbon Nanospirals, d=2.8mm

15
20

10 m

20% Carbon Nanotubes,

d=1.7mm

20% Carbon Nanospirals,

d = 2.7 mm

96.8377

20% Carbon Nanospirals,

d = 2.7 mm

9 11 13 15
Frequency (GHz)

17

Absorption (%)

Return Loss (dB)

20% Carbon Black, d = 1.5 mm

99.0000

d = Thickness of the Composite Material

(b)
6. Carbon-based nonomaterials. (a) Carbon nanocapsules: hollow and filled.
(b) Carbon nonospirals: structure (left) and absorption characteristics (right).
50

IEEE CIRCUITS & DEVICES MAGAZINE

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2004

work is presently underway for the VCSEL

design.

Polymer
Monomer

Carbon Nanotube
Field Emission Displays
Flat panel displays have been a major
Nanopore (210 nm) as
growth industry in Taiwan, with world
a Reactor
market share now exceeding 35%. CNT
(a)
FEDs, with their potential for largesize, high resolution, color quality and,
above all, its favorable cost-down potential due to simpler structures and
advantages in large-area fabrication, is
sPS+aPS w/o
sPS+aPS with
an important emerging technology
Nanopore
Nanopore
MCM-41
PE from MCM-41
(c)
(d)
especially for large screen applications
(b)
including flat panel televisions. Using a
thick film process with spun-on CNT
7. Space-confirmed polymerization using nanopore reactors.
pastes, ITRI has produced FED with
(a) Schematic. (b) Polymerization. (c) Without a nanopore setting, sPS and aPS do not blend
well. (d) Molecular blending in a nanopore setting.
steadily improving characteristics, as
shown in Figure 5, and is presently
working with industrial partners to produce high resolution, full color television prototypes in
Nanopore Reactors
the near future. To date, 42 CNT FED-related patents have
Another topic we are working on is nano-scale space confinebeen obtained.
ment and its applications (Figure 7). Polymerization with 2 to
10 nm reactors made from MCM-41 nanopores and with appropriate catalysts can produce linear polymers with ultrahigh
Carbon-Based Nanomaterials
molecular weights and strengths. The polyethylene (PE) fiber
Some of the progress we made with carbon-based nanomathus produced at ITRI laboratories have recorded molecular
terials are shown in Figure 6. A novel carbon-based nanoweights greater than 7 million at melting temperatures greater
scale building block, carbon nanocapsules shown in Figure
than 140 C and a strength suitable for bulletproof applications.
6(a), has been fabricated with high concentration and purity. The nanocapsules possess high thermal and electric conBy placing different catalysts in the nanopores, molecular-level
ductivities and mechanical strength just like CNT but are
blending of two different polymers was demonstrated for, as far
considerably easier to disperse and are readily water and solas we know, the first time in the world. Figure 7(c) and (d)
vent soluble, resulting in much better processability. The
shows the case of atatic- and syndiotactic-polystyrene (aPS and
hollow capsules exhibit strong fluorescence in the 390 to
sPS) blending. These may lead to very interesting applications in
560-nm wavelength range with quantum efficiency signifiquite a number of areas.
cantly higher than that of C60 or CNT. They can also be
filled with metallic particles, resulting in excellent magnetic
SUMMARY
properties. Metal-filled carbon nanocapsules are protected
As a small economy that has built its future on manufacturfrom oxidation, making stable performance possible for varing excellence, Taiwan has a big stake in nanotechnology. On
ious applications. Further research work now concentrates
the one hand, our manufacturing strength makes nanotechon their functionalization for applications such as elecnology a unique opportunity. On the other, it also makes
trodes in lithium batteries, catalyst support in direct
nanotechnology the one R&D battle we can least afford to
methanol fuel cells, emitters for CNT FEDs, and heat-dissilose. To come out ahead takes coherent planning and discipating coatings for electronic components. An alliance with
plined actions and, above all, the ability to marry nanotechover 20 industrial partners in Taiwan has been formed to
nologys creative power to the dynamics of the marketplace.
pursue its various potential applications.
Such will be the challenges facing Taiwans National NanAnother interesting carbon-based nanomaterial created
otechnology Program and its central R&D forceITRI. For
in ITRI laboratories is the carbon nanospirals shown in
us, the future is literally now.
Figure 6(b). Essentially carbon nanowires twisted into springlike spirals, they exhibit excellent properties for electromagnetic radiation absorption. The frequency-dependent
Jih Chang Yang is with the Industrial Technology Research
absorption pattern, up to 15 GHz, can be tuned by the size and
Institute (ITRI), Taiwan ROC National Nanotechnology
composition of such spirals.
Program, Taiwan. E-mail: jcyang@itri.org.tw.

IEEE CIRCUITS & DEVICES MAGAZINE

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2004

51