Building Foundational Knowledge and Infrastructure for Nanotechnology: 2000−2030

The progression of nanoscale science and technology development may be separated in three main stages: Nano 1 (~2000-2010) focused on uncovering phenomena at the nanoscale and semi-empirical synthesis of nanocomponents; Nano 2 (~2010-2020) on science-based nanosystem integration for fundamentally new products; and Nano 3 (~2020-2030) on creating new nanosystem architectures and converging technology platforms. This paper outlines how the foundational nanoscale science and engineering field has advanced in basic knowledge, infrastructure and numerous economic sectors, such as catalysts, semiconductor manufacturing, medicine, agriculture, and energy production. Global revenues of nano-enabled products reached $1 trillion in 2013 according to industry surveys. The annual U.S. and global revenue growth rate increased from about 25% during 2001-2010 to about 40% during 2010-2014, suggesting that this recent interval is the beginning of the ascendant section of the S-development curve.