Nanomanufacturing: A Perspective

Abstract

Nanomanufacturing, the commercially scalable and economically sustainable mass production of nanoscale materials and devices, represents the tangible outcome of the nanotechnology revolution. In contrast to those used in nanofabrication for research purposes, nanomanufacturing processes must satisfy the additional constraints of cost, throughput, and time to market. Taking silicon integrated circuit manufacturing as a baseline, we consider the factors involved in matching processes with products, examining the characteristics and potential of top-down and bottom-up processes, and their combination. We also discuss how a careful assessment of the way in which function can be made to follow form can enable high-volume manufacturing of nanoscale structures with the desired useful, and exciting, properties.