Military ponders future of nanotech.

While nano-sciences offer an array of potentially useful technology for the Defense Department, not all military researchers have jumped on this bandwagon.

The disparity of viewpoints was on clear display at a recent lightweight materials conference, where researchers gave differing assessments of its impact.

"If you think biotech has been moving these last few years, just wait," said James Murday, chief scientist for the laboratories at the Office of Naval Research. "The electronics industry will be all nano by the end of the decade."

Other researchers contend the impact will be far less than the predictions of true believers such as Murday. "I'd be shocked if [nanotechnology] will be the thing in 10 years," noted David Stepp, chief of the materials science division of the Army Research Office. "There's always something after."

The federal government is certainly concentrating on nanotechnology. The Clinton administration's 2001 budget raised an informal "nano-scale science and technology working group" to the level of a federal initiative. The National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) was born, an effort that has received steady increased in research and development funding.

Federal funding for nanotechnology research and development has increased from $116 million in 1997 to an estimated $961 million in 2004. President Bush's 2005 budget request calls for an additional 2 percent increase, boosting the NNI budget to $982 million.

The Defense Department is one key player in NNI, with a firm interest in developing new materials and manufacturing processes that could determine the shape of a 22nd century fighting force. The Pentagon recognizes 10 broad applications of nano-science, including ultra-small computers, low-power communications systems, bio-chemical defense suites, new targeting lasers and countermeasures and innovative materials for armor systems.

Future plans, Murday said, could include further advances, such as directed self-assembly and repair, nano-porous materials that could screen the passage of particles through a membrane and transparent ceramics and composites that could shame current efforts.

Some long-standing engineering problems may find solutions in nanotech. For example, an artificial sapphire used on the nose cones of infrared-guided missiles could be enhanced using advances in nano-science, said Larry Kabacoff, program manager for nano-structured materials for the Office of Naval Research.

If a new material can be formed, it could be an answer to a problem vexing researchers who are searching for a material tough enough to survive insect and weather damage in flight and transparent enough to allow infrared waves through without refracting them. The current systems rely on sapphires which often are damaged while in flight, Kabacoff told National Defense, and using damage-resistant diamonds is cost prohibitive.

Kabacoff's group found that a single-phase material with a structure 20 times smaller than the infrared wavelengths would allow the light to pass unaffected. The program was cut in 2003, "just as progress was being made." A small project with Raytheon still exists, which is generating data that could be used to mount an argument to resume ONR funding.

Other nations also are turning their eyes towards nanotechnology, Murday noted. He called China "a major player" who is investing steadily in the emerging technology, and added that Japan is matching the United States' investment dollar-for-dollar.

"We'd just as soon be on the front end of that curve," Murday told the conference attendees.

Some doubt the lasting impact of nanotech. Among the problems are difficulties in bringing lab tests to real-world applications, Stepp said during his presentation at the lightweight materials conference.

Just because a newly formed or enhanced material has certain attributes on small scales, it doesn't mean that they can be scaled-up and used in real-world systems. "Mechanical properties don't mean design values," he noted. "A few atoms make a difference."

The buzz surrounding the creation of carbon nano-tubes swept the scientific community and was touted as a breakthrough. But the lack of applications has been a let down and a distraction. "All the hype on nano-tubes is a big problem for us. I don't believe they will scale up," Stepp said.

Stepp pointed out other technologies that had the potential to usurp nanotech as the next big advance. He mentioned amorphous metals, which can adopt multiple unique properties because of their non-crystalline microstructures, and the integration of biological and structural materials in synthetic fibers as two promising technologies.

Stepp said that science is getting closer to mimicking the way natural systems work, opening new doors to synthetic-biological hybrids that once belonged to science fiction. He said researchers efforts on mimicking the way cellular membranes screen what is allowed to penetrate their walls possibly could be applied synthetically into future protective clothing.

Other military researchers note that redesigns can often reduce weight and enhance performance without applying any radical new technologies, an appealing observation for those interested in fielding improvements for current conflicts.

Richard Audette, a deputy project manager at the Army program executive office for soldier systems, said that a machine gun tripod had been redesigned using the same steel, at a reduction of six pounds. "You don't always have to go with new, lightweight materials," he noted.