The worldwide semiconductor industry generates
$300 billion in revenue annually. Its yearly R&D
spending is $50 billion, much of which is focused on
nanomanufacturing. Other industries, such as mass
storage, telecommunications, cellular, and medical
devices, also contribute R&D dollars. In comparison,
to put a man on the Moon, the US Apollo program
cost approximately $150 billion in 2014 dollars,
or $15 billion per year. The investment being
made in nanomanufacturing underlines the economic
and strategic importance of the field. Although
not generally recognized as such, nanomanufacturing is a major subfield of physics that engages
large numbers of scientists around the world.
The intellectual challenges of moving from
nanoscience to nanodevice-enabled products are
daunting. Richard Feynman famously observed that
“there’s plenty of room at the bottom”—but many
researchers are working hard to make it a little more
crowded.