Recommendations of the Tenth U.S.-Korea Forum on Nanotechnology: A New Generation of Nano-technological Products & Processes
Boston, USA
Adopted on October 16, 2013
The first decade of the 21st century has been characterized by the advent of nanotechnology convergence in a broad spectrum of science and technology areas along with mutual and interdisciplinary research initiatives to achieve rapid progress toward second industrial revolution. To this purpose, the United States (National Science Foundation, NSF) and Korea (Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, MSIP, formerly known as the Ministry of Science and Technology, MOST) have been vigorously encouraging a common platform for the exchange of ideas and research collaboration in nanotechnology through these Forums, set up by the recommendations made by the Korea-US joint committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation (held on October 31, 2002 in Seoul).
Ever since then, our Forums have been extremely successful, flourishing the decade’s history, in nanotechnology as a testimony to the transformative power of identifying a concept or trend and laying out a vision at the synergistic confluence of diverse scientific research areas. Our Forums have also provided a common platform for effective networking between research communities and industries in both countries by identifying emerging areas in nanotechnology which generate huge impact. This is evident from major collaboration initiatives established via our Forums. Organizing the Forums has significantly expedited the generation of cutting edge technologies for the thrust areas in both countries. These Forums have been well publicized through Carnegie Mellon website: http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/org/nanotechnology-forum/.
The first Forum, held in Seoul on October 14 & 15, 2003, was attended by amazingly large audience of 250 participants from both countries when nanotechnology was at its infancy. Since then, our Forums have been annually held alternatively in the US and Korea with 310 participants and 544 nanoscience experts during the past decade and covered a variety of timely topics. The US participants initially played an ambassador role for diversifying nanotechnology in Korea and many of our Forum recommendations have been implemented in the Korean government policies in nanotechnology. For example, we introduced environmental health and safety area in the fourth Forum, when this topic was not prominent in Korea. We also introduced sustainability in a timely effort as a paradigm shift during the Eighth Forum, and this effort is being published as a special issue in the Journal of Nanoparticle Research. Currently, our Forums have helped forge a great deal of progress of nanotechnology in Korea, which now equals the technological expertise in the US and the recent Forums have resulted in the excellent roadmap for mutual partnership in the future.
The present Forum celebrating the tenth anniversary was held at Northeastern University on October 15th & 16th, 2013, and was attended by 39 eminent scientists and policy makers in the field of nanotechnology along with 34 nanoscience experts present in the audience. The Forum focused on laying out a roadmap for a new generation of nanotechnological products and processes. In contrast to the previous Forms, this Forum for the first time, was held at an NSF center in nanotechnology.
The following are the general recommendations of this Forum to ensure partnership between the two countries for the continued success in nanotechnology research collaboration:
(1) Nanotechnology during this decade will go beyond the applied technology itself and will march toward the convergence of knowledge, technology and society (CKTS) for achieving sustainable development. The upcoming Forums could change their focus accordingly.
(2) Based on our experience from the previous Forums, it is desirable to have vigorous Forum participation of policy makers from both countries to practically achieve our ultimate mission. It is also necessary to secure stable funding via collaborative projects and block grants from both governments to further enhance the impacts of the Forums. This will promote the R&D networking/policy and exchanging scientists. The funding should be committed at higher levels (e.g., Minster level) since nanotechnology will play essential role in this decade for the both new governments including development of creative economy in Korea as well as next generation manufacturing technologies in the US.
(3) Change of workshop format is desirable to include CKTS methodologies. Specifically, writing extensive reports focusing on achievements of past five years, R&D policy for next five years (forecasting and recommendations for future roadmap), and circulate these reports exclusively to NSF/MSIP
(4) Topics for 11th Forum should include the most updated roadmap focusing on convergence and education. Specifically, the three sessions will be (a) Nano in technology, (b) Nano in society, and (c) Education for nanotechnology convergence. We encourage the participants to stay for longer periods of time for promoting collaboration. Providing a lecture series for senior participants and arranging lab tours for junior participants is desirable.
(5) Our Forums so far have been successful in generating close collaborations among small groups. In order to have a global impact in the future of CKTS, bringing together many multi-disciplinary teams to create a major integrated project is necessary.
(6) Need industry involvement in university projects in nano-manufacturing area. Providing a mechanism or incentive for industry to fund long term research would ensure viable commercial products
The following are recommendations made by the three subgroups:
Sub-group 1: Manufacturing Processes
Barriers to scale-up
• High throughput and fabricating multilayer of functional structures, with precise control at nanoscale.
• Development of tool prototypes at nanoscale to enable nanoscale printing, and lithography, etc.
• Alignment and registration at nanoscale, cleaning, and pattern uniformity.
• Fundamental understanding at nanoscale
• Lack of collaboration with companies to develop tools and nanoscale rapid prototyping at small volume.
Barriers to integrate heterogeneous nano-elements with micro- and macro- scale
• Contact resistance, registration, precise integration and control of forces.
• Repeatability, uniformity, and surface functionalization.
• Assembly from nano- to macro- scale and serial processes (can we make them in parallel?), online metrology.
Challenges for nano-manufacturing using directed assembly
• Fundamental understanding of assembly mechanisms
• Precise control of forces at the nanoscale (forces can change for each medium and material),
• Developing diffusion independent processes
Short term manufacturing issues
• Scalability, repeatability, and high volume manufacturing.
• Issues may differ for each target application (e.g., display technology and high density memory device).
• Control issues at nanoscale.
• Definition of tolerance
How to integrate nano components in a reliable and repeatable manner?
• Mimic and inspire from nature.
• Directed assembly (DNA, seeds etc.).
• Understand fundamentals to enable control of forces at nanoscale
How to test long term reliability?
• Testing under differently controlled environments.
• Specification of testing schemes.
• Collaborating of NIST and KRISS for standardization
Additional comments
• Need for work force training, creativity.
• Lack of organizations (such as the Fraunhofer Institutes in Germany) or companies that link fundamental research to applications
Sub-group 2: Nano-enabled applications and products
Nano-enabled applications and products are near maturity
• Nanomaterials
• Take advantage of nanoproperties
• Polymer nanocomposites
• Soft (e.g., polymer) 3D structures at the nanoscale
• Polymer based- metamaterials
• Nanoparticle related products
• Batteries/electrodes
• NEMS
• Nanopatterning
• Cost-effective methods such as interference lithography
• Nano-enabled sensors – chemical, biological, thermodynamic, optical
• Incorporated into existing platform
• Energy harvesting systems on micro- or nano-scale in low throughput environments
• Nanotechnology for data storage – Western Digital and Seagate
• Plasmonics for read and write capability
• Display – oxides, quantum dots, graphene (e.g., QD Vision)
What long-term applications do you envision?
• Integrated systems – two or more types of material integrated
• Sensing and delivery for biological sensors
• Solar energy, water splitting, and photocatalysis – interdisciplinary challenges
• Sensing platforms
• Multiple functionalities (sensors and devices)
What do you see as the long term manufacturing issues for these products?
• Requires industry driven paradigm shift
• Industry involvement for long term research
• Integration
• Interfacing with electronics and other devices
• Coupling the signal in and out of the device
• Reliability
• Shelf-life
• Durability
• Process control
• Alignment and registration
• Lack of design guidelines and models for the process
• Health and safety issues of the nanoparticles elements
• Materials quality
• Consistency
• Cost and supply chain
• Large-area nanopatterning
• Lithography free methods
Discussion
• Workforce training
• Tax breaks
• Industry involvement is too short term
- Reason: Leaders in industry are business people do not think long term. Need more involvement in new technology
- Long term projects could lead to workforce development
• Need more involvement in science and engineering in young age
Sub-group 3: Sustainability and Life Cycle Assessment
Sustainability / Life Cycle Assessment
• What is nano? Need exact definition in order to create consistent regulation
• Previous reports: OECD, APEC meeting, Triennial Review (NNI), etc—suggestions are repeatedly being made but never read—need to reinforce previous suggestions
• Need grants for nano commercialization
• Help to establish working groups within other organizations (other government agencies or inter-governmental entities, bi-lateral (US-Korea), regional (APEC) or international (OECD, WHO, UNEP)
• Collaboration among different countries (environmental hazards cross borders)
• Fulfilling different regulations to compete globally
• Toxic Substances Control Act, REACH—EU companies must prove safety of product, in US EPA must prove, but funding is limited to EPA, same for end of life
• Laws resulting from perceptions of people (progress vs. caution)
• Survey bias (wording is important)
• Need more international law experts (combined US/Korea regulation)
• Web-based databases that allow people to find most useful pertinent information
• Final note: Agreement between all countries is difficult to achieve and takes a long time
On behalf of the U.S participants
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On behalf of the Korean
participants
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Myung S. Jhon, Professor Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Ahmed Busnaina, Professor Northeastern University Boston, MA, USA
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Jo-Won Lee, Professor Hanyang University Seoul, Korea
Chang Woo Kim, Director General National Nanotechnology Policy Center Seoul, Korea
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