A Short History of Nanotechnology

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 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

For more on the history of the nanotechnology concept, see:

"Nanotechnology: from Feynman to the Grand Challenge of Molecular Manufacturing", by C. Peterson in IEEE Technology and Society, Winter 2004. PDF [2.5 MB]

"Molecular Nanotechnology: the Next Industrial Revolution", by C. Peterson in IEEE Computer, January 2000.

Nano: The Emerging Science of Nanotechnology (by E. Regis, Little Brown, 1995).

"Nanotechnology: From Concept to R&D Goal", by C. Peterson, HotWired, 1995.

"Nanotechnology: Evolution of the Concept" by C. Peterson, in the book Prospects in Nanotechnology: Toward Molecular Manufacturing (ed. Markus Krummenacker and James Lewis, Wiley, 1995).