NanoOptics: Illuminating Nanostructures

Transcription

1 NanoOptics: Illuminating Nanostructures Martin Moskovits Chief Technology Officer, API Nanotronics Corp International Conference on Nanotechnology for the Forest Products Industry Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

2 How does one encourage innovation? What are the ingredients that transform ideas into commercially successful businesses? Are there episodes of global innovation? (E.g. Integrated circuit, Biotechnology, telecom expansion, the internet, nanotechnology, alternative energy, social networks.) If so, what drives them?

3 Traditional View of Innovation pipeline Fundamental research Development Enterprise creation The process is not linear Few enterpri$es result Many research ideas enter. Those chosen for development meet certain market/management/roi/financial/readiness criteria

4 Some fundamentals have changed in the past generation The traditional role of large commercial research labs with a mandate to innovate broadly: Edison at Menlo Park, NJ, Bell Labs (divestiture), GE Labs, RCA Labs, IBM, Xerox, Exxon: emphasis on talented people After the demise of that innovation resource in the 1980 s hope was that the universities would join in a collaboration with industry to fill in the early activities in the innovation pipeline then transfer those ideas to industry. Only moderately successful. Why? Although fundamental, the research in the Labs was nevertheless connected to the company s business Transitioning involves teams that works together. It is hard to pass complex technology along among institutions Lack of access to decision-making portions of the corporation Complexities in control of IP Now, a larger fraction of innovation than seems to have previously been the case seems to be driven by global Tech fashions with explosive creation of dedicated research centers and enterprises (tech bubble): biotech, internet, nanotech imperfect track record in learning from experience Early startups seem to have (imperfectly) taken on the translational role previously taking place in major research labs.

5 Case Study: creating a company based on nanofabricated products Nano was not the goal Making a product and/or providing a service that people want to buy is the ultimate goal (For that matter neither was forming a company with rapidly increasing multiples based on promises, a goal) Ingredients for success

6 1. Products or Services must have an identifiable edge over competition. Could be merely price but it s better if it is proprietary technology Base initial products on top-down technology to ensure facile scale-up One can move to riskier bottom-up approaches after market penetration is achieved

7 2. Developing technology is expensive. Adopt a unitary technology paradigm that can proliferate products without having to master many technologies: our choice, products based on nanowire gratings AND top-down fabrication Polarizers: Deep UV to IR with features below 100 nm Integrated optical products such as retarders Optical-storagerelated products Development and manufacturing supported by computation and simulation Transmission% UV Polarizer 266 nm Extinction Ratio (db) Wavelength (nm)

8 15 MBA 100um poin 10x3 D MBA 100um poin 10x3 D06 new point 19 MBA 100um poin 10x3 D06 new point Raman Shift (cm -1 ) Advanced capability in integrated Optics Digital Imaging IR cut-off filters Optical shutters and variable attenuators Polarizers Tunable filters Manufacturing Advanced displays UV/IR filter Optics for Deep UV lithography Grating-based SERS sensors Intensity (cnt) Product Platform MEMS Security & Defense Optics-based sensors Night vision MEMS-based optics Micro lens arrays Communications Optical isolators Polarizers Polarization beam splitter/combiners Optical Data Storage CD/DVD wave plates Achromatic wave plates Blu-Ray / HD-DVD wave plates Polarizers

9 3. Most important: highly capable people in management, development and production

10 4. Sufficient Investment to take the business over the top Over $10 million invested by API Nanotronics Board in people, infrastructure and IP protection Waveplates High performance Filters Over 30 patents, 18 granted 36,000 sq. ft. State-of-the-art production facility with over 20,000 sq. ft. of clean-room and laboratory space Unique technical capabilities: Batch Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) manufacturing tools Optical Isolators 10

11 5. A provable and sizable addressable market $7.3B * pure nanotechnology market 11

12 Some promising Nano Photonic developments that have the wholesome scent of application to them 1. Plasmonics 2. Metamaterials

13 1.Plasmonics Light-induced collective electronic excitations that can concentrate optical fields resulting for enhanced spectroscopic effects and can couple their energy out as photons for apparent light transmission through metal nanowires (ii) Plasmonic nanotags (i) Plasmonic conductance of light J. A. Hutchison, S. P. Centeno, H. Odaka, H. Fukumura, J. Hofkens, and H. Uji-i Nano Lett, 2009 G. B. Braun, S. J. Lee, T. Laurence, N. Fera, L. Fabris, G. C. Bazan, M. Moskovits, N. O. Reich, J. Phys. Chem. 2009

14 Science, 2007 Negative refraction (may be used to make cloaking devices) Sub-wavelength resolution (UV-like lithography using visible light)

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16 Silicon photonic crystals Geoff Ozin, Sajeev John, U of T Dream of an all-photonic computer Photonic crystal made by glancing angle deposition. Mike Brett, NINT

17 Conclusions Nano is ready for business as a tech tool but should not be an end in itself Combining nano with photons is a powerful combination. Combining nano with bio and photons is an even more powerful combination