Nanophotonics: Accessibility and Applicability (2008)

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5 Foreign Investment Capabilities In line with the task of the Committee on Nanophotonics Accessibility and Applicability to “review the scale and scope of offshore investments and interest in nanophotonics,” this chapter provides a broad overview of international research and investment in nanophotonics. It does not seek to provide great detail on any particular country or investment capacity but rather to give a general, high-level picture of where interest and research exist and thus to provide a sense of the scale and scope of these matters. International Nanophotonics The committee performed a literature search, using the program “Science Citation,” for the period January 2005 through April 2007 and using the terms “quantum dot (QD) lasers” or “photonic crystal*” or “plasmonics” or “metamaterials” and found 5,440 publications. The results, categorized according to the home institution of the authors and plotted in Figure 5-1, are neither exhaustive nor conclusive. Specific, publicly available information about nanophotonic developments internationally is detailed in the subsections that follow. Asia Much of the advancement in nanophotonics in Asia is driven by the semiconductor industry. For example, the NEC corporation has developed silicon (Si) optical interconnectors for data transmission in large-scale integration chips (Nikkei Electronics Asia, 2007). On a national level, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is also endeavoring to enter this field, as evidenced by its hosting of a June 2007 conference on nanophotonics at Zhejiang University, ­Hangzhou, China. Although held in China, this conference was sponsored by Osanano, the nano­technology division of the Optical Society of America (OSA), making it a truly multinational endeavor. China also offers a For more information, see http://opt.zju.edu.cn/osanano. Last accessed on April 10, 2007. 168 

FOREIGN INVESTMENT CAPABILITIES 169 2005-2007 Publications 30 1600 Record Count % of 5440 1400 25 1200 20 1000 Percentage of 5440 Record Count 15 800 600 10 400 5 200 0 0 A SA ER AN FR NY G E RU D SO CA IA KO A EA Y TA N ST AN G LIA E SW SW K N ZE EN L D O DS BE ND IS M L AL AE TH AD IN EN C D OR AR N AI ER N IU SS P U R AU IW A AN IT ED SC AN LA H LA A SI RA SP IT H LG R JA N M M TL AP C ET R EN R G N ES U PL O PE FIGURE 5-1  Results of the committee’s keyword search, using the program “Science Citation,” of papers p ­ ublished from January 2005 through April 2007 whose authors had home institutions in the country indicated. The keywords used were “quantum dot (QD) lasers” or “photonic crystal*” or “plasmonics” or “metamaterials.” 5-1 New publication of relevance, Chinese Optics Letters (Journal). This, too, is in conjunction with OSA. At the national level, the Chinese government makes major investments through its university programs in science and engineering. Japan funds nanotechnology research primarily through its Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT) (Strategies Unlimited, 2005). Researchers in Japan such as Baba’s group at Yokohama National University and Noda’s group at Kyoto University have made seminal con- tributions in the achievement of photonic crystal devices for low-threshold lasing, low-loss wave­guiding, and other applications. Researchers at the University of Tsukuba in Japan are exploring high-speed switching applications with photonic crystal devices. Major research activities are also located at the Uni- versity of Tokyo. The Ohtsu research group has developed theories of optical near-field interactions with nanomaterials and is working toward the fabrication of prototype nanophotonic devices. This group is in Available online at http://col.osa.org/Issue.cfm. Last accessed on April 10, 2007. 

170 Nanophotonics the process of developing an Industry-University Cooperative supported by New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO). Yasuhiko Arakawa’s group at the University of Tokyo is carrying out work on efficient optical sources, including quantum dot lasers. Finally, Notomi’s group at Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) has developed extremely high quality photonic crystal elements and is exploring their application to all-optical circuit switching. Korea, too, is funding a great deal of research in order to harness the opportunities offered by this technology, and much of the government funding is geared toward an extension of research and develop- ment (R&D) and the financing of venture capital. The country’s major academic centers are the Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and the Gwangju Institute of Tech­nology Research. Research conducted at the latter center has focused primarily on microelectromechanical systems and the development of optoelectric switches. Europe Under the auspices of the European Union (EU), much of the nanotechnology research in this region of the world is now cooperative, and funding for all photonics R&D projects was over €50 million­ in 2004. Studies funded include the following: PhOREMOST, for nano and molecular photonics research; ePIXnet, the European Photonic Integrated Components and Circuits Network of Excellence; FUNFOX, the Functional Photonic Crystals for Metropolitan Optical Networks; PHAT, which creates two- and three-dimensional designs in silicon for the integration of routing and emission; and PICMOS, which deals with photonic interconnects on silicon (Strategies Unlimited, 2005). Also of note is the EU-funded virtual technology platform for nanophotonics (VIRGIN), which provides a platform for the development of photonic hybrid-integrated systems. At an industrial level, the EU houses the European ­NanoBusiness Association and the European Photonics Industry Association. In addition to the EU-wide programs, most European countries also fund independent efforts. The Technical University of Denmark has a research program that has specific programs focused on silicon nanophotonics, quantum photonics, theory and numerical modeling, semiconductor devices, ­plasmonics, terahertz technology and spectroscopy, slow light, and optical signal processing.  Also in Denmark, the University of Aalborg conducts research on photonics and photonic bandgap structures.  Denmark also has an interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center, iNano, that endeavors to merge nanoscale biology, chemistry, and physics. In Finland, the majority of academic research takes place at the Tampere School of Tech­nology Research. Research there focuses on semiconductor lasers, optoelectronic components, and ­photochemistry. Germany’s endeavors in this field are both academic and commercial. On the commercial front is the semiconductor company NanoPhotonics.10 Academically, Germany has funded research at the Max Planck Institut. Notably, research coming from this center has focused on near-field optical microscopy.11 For more information, see http://mems.kjist.ac.kr/. Last accessed on April 10, 2007. For additional information, see http://www.phoremost.org/. Last accessed on April 10, 2007. For additional information, see http://virtual.vtt.fi/virtual/fp6virgin/. Last accessed on April 10, 2007. For additional information, see http://www.com.dtu.dk/English/Research/Nanophotonics.aspx. Last accessed on April 10, 2007. For additional information, see http://www.physics.aau.dk//page.php?id=70. Last accessed on April 10, 2007. For additional information, see http://www.inano.dk/sw174.asp. Last accessed on April 10, 2007. For additional information, see http://www.tut.fi/index.cfm?MainSel=1604&Sel=14965&Show=21555&Siteid=32. Last accessed on April 10, 2007. 10For additional information, see http://www.nanophotonics.de/. Last accessed on October 9, 2007. 11For additional information, see http://www.biochem.mpg.de/en/research/rg/hillenbrand/index.html. Last accessed on April 10, 2007. 

FOREIGN INVESTMENT CAPABILITIES 171 The University of Würtzburg also has conducted research in this area.12 The current research there is focused on the development of a tunable photonic crystal laser with wavelength monitor and a photonic crystal distributed feedback laser. The Research Council of Norway is currently funding coordinated research on nanostructures for optics. This cooperative effort at nine different research centers in the country is focused on two specific applications: namely, photonic crystal films and the manipulation of nanoparticles with optical fields in waveguides.13 Research funded by the Russian Academy of Sciences conducted in Russia’s Institute of Semi- conductor Physics reveals that Russia, too, has an interest in this topic. 14 Specific applications studied include quantum dot structures, thin films, and semiconductors. In the United Kingdom, which has funded research since the late 1980s, the NanoPhotonics Portfolio Center exists as a coordinating center for much of the work done within the University of ­Southampton. Other research centers include the Microphotonics and Photonic Crystal Research Group at the Uni- versity of St. Andrews and the Photonic Nanostructures Group and other groups carrying out work in nanophotonics within the Tyndall National Institute at the University of Cork. The Tyndall National Institute was created in 2004 by the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment to bring together a multiplicity of resources and personnel in order to become a focal point of information and commu- nications technology in Ireland. NANOPHOTONICS AND GLOBAL COMMERCiAL DEMAND The committee believes that nanophotonics will increasingly provide foundational building blocks for militarily-relevant capabilities. Based on the close intercoupling between nanophotonics and micro- electronics technologies, the committee also concluded that as nanophotonics matures, the commercial markets will be much larger than the military market. This belief is supported by a study performed by the National Science Foundation (NSF) that predicted the global marketplace for goods and services using nanotechnologies will grow to $1 trillion by 2015.15 The committee believes that when nano­ photonics matures, the most significant advances in nanophotonics will be driven largely by global-scale commercial demands rather than by militarily-specific demands. Industry has recognized this trend, as evidenced by the rapid fivefold rise in R&D investment in the 2001-2005 time frame, reaching $1 billion in Europe in calendar year 2005. According to the NSF’s President’s Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology, in 2005, the United States, Japan, Europe, and Asia each expended in the neighborhood of $1 billion in nanophotonics.16 In 2003, the United States was dominant in issued patents in nanotechnology, with Japan, France, and the United Kingdom being notably behind (Huang et al., 2004). It is not apparent from these published data how many of the U.S. patents belonged to foreign companies that filed with the U.S. Patent Office to seek protection in the forecasted large U.S. commercial market in nanophotonics. The advances in 12For additional information, see http://tep.physik.uni-wuerzburg.de/index.php?id=108. Last accessed on April 10, 2007. 13For additional information, see http://www.forskningsradet.no/servlet/Satellite?c=Page&cid=1138785830860&pagename =ForskningsradetEngelsk%2Fpage%2FStandardSidemal. Last accessed on October 9, 2007. 14For additional information, see http://www.isp.nsc.ru/newface/index.php?ACTION=part&id_main=3&lang=en. Last a ­ ccessed on April 10, 2007. 15Rajinder P. Khosla. Nanotechnology at the National Science Foundation: Indo-US Workshop Nanotechnology: Issues in Interdisciplinary Research and Education. Presentation to the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, August 10-13, 2004. Available at http://www.nnin.org/doc/Khosla.pdf. Last accessed on April 10, 2007. 16For additional information, see http://www.nsf.gov. Last accessed on April 10, 2007. 

172 Nanophotonics Si-based nanophotonics have been impressive and are expected eventually to merge nanophotonics and microelectronics together in commercial products. Based on this information, the intelligence tech­nology warning community (ITWC) is advised to monitor nanophotonics developments outside the United States, especially in those countries that have strong backgrounds in related technologies (e.g., integrated optics, semiconductor lasers, compound semiconductors, Si-based semiconductor/microelectronics technologies, nanoscale photolithography, and so on) that will enable them to exploit nanophotonics in their military systems. Some of these countries include China, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, the EU, India, Israel, and others. In this present early developmental stage, the U.S. R&D-funding agencies can accelerate the devel- opment of nanophotonics technology by funding R&D in the technology as they have repeatedly done in the past for other technologies. Two past examples are Si-based microelectronics and lasers. Such R&D funding action matures the technology faster, so it becomes clearer at an earlier stage how the technology can uniquely contribute to military applications. It also will increase the probability that the U.S. military will be first to deploy the technology in its weapons systems. The committee is pleased to recognize that in 2004, as a result of the emphasis on nanotechnology represented by the National Nanotechnology Initiative, the National Science Foundation, Department of Defense (DOD), Department of Energy, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Standards and Technology, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration had a total nanotechnology budget of approximately $1.1 billion (National Nanotechnology Initiative, 2007).17 The extensive investment in nanotechnology research and development (R&D) by industry suggests the need for the ITWC to establish a sustained relationship with the nongovernmental nanophotonics scientific, technical, and industrial communities—that is, universities, professional societies, and trade organizations—in order to bolster its understanding and anticipation of nanophotonics technology trends (NRC, 2005, 2007). The ITWC needs to become knowledgeable as nanophotonics breakthroughs occur throughout the world, particularly in countries that do not have strong coupling to the U.S. defense community. With globalization, it is folly to assume that the United States will lead in all technologies relevant to military applications. This reality is believed by the committee to hold true also for nanophotonics. Nanophotonics components, modules, and subsystems will play a large role in future U.S. weapons systems. In order to have the best and most affordable weapons systems, some of the nanophotonics items used in this nation’s future weapons systems will probably not be produced within the United States, as is currently the case for increasing numbers of other technologies components, modules, and subsystems. It is a fact that U.S. weapons systems at present have appreciable foreign content (NRC, 2006). The DOD has learned to manage the content and the advantages and risks associated with the foreign content in U.S. weapons systems (NRC, 2006).18 The Defense Intelligence Agency’s Tech- nology Warning Division, in collaboration with other related intelligence organizations that focus on technology warning, should establish, maintain, and systematically analyze a comprehensive array of indicators pertaining to the globalization and commercialization of nanophotonics techniques in order to complement and focus intelligence collection and analysis on the topic. It is expected that this task should have a strong focus on monitoring the developments of nanophotonics technologies in countries not friendly to the United States. 17Additional information on U.S. research can be found in the reports entitled Rising Above the Gathering Storm: ­Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future (NRC, 2007) and Engineering Research and America’s Future: ­ eeting the Challenges of a Global Economy (NRC, 2005). M 18Additional information on foreign contents is provided in Appendix C in this report. 

FOREIGN INVESTMENT CAPABILITIES 173 It is relatively easy to create a list of potential future general military applications in which nano- photonics may have some probability of playing a role within the next 10 to 15 years; however, the committee believes that such a list may be of limited use at this early phase of nanophotonics tech­nology development. It is harder to identify with a high degree of confidence those specific applications in which nanophotonics offers a high probability of being a potential “game changer” in the hands of U.S. adversaries; nonetheless, because such a list is believed by the committee to be much more useful to the sponsor, it has done its best to create such a list, presenting it in Chapter 6. The committee warns against entirely disregarding nanophotonics applications that are envisioned to have little military application but which may have such significant commercial potential that if the United States does not engage in this area that has global interest, its technological edge may be eroded. If the United States were to become dependent on a foreign industrial base for nanophotonics items that are of strategic importance and critical to its weapon systems and for which the generation of a U.S. industrial base would take a long time, the risk would be unacceptable. The potential of nanophotonics to be an enabling technology for creating new military capabilities means that the government must ensure that U.S. industry can and will engage energetically and be competitive in nanophotonics products that will produce strategic and critical capabilities for this nation’s security. As stated previously, the committee believes that nanophotonics will eventually be driven largely by global commercial markets rather than by the U.S. military and U.S. national security agencies. For the DOD to have assured access to nanophotonics capabilities, it will be necessary for the United States to have a healthy commercial nanophotonics industry and to conduct pioneering R&D in the field. Since World War II, the DOD has taken a lead in funding R&D in technologies that show promise of being important to the nation’s military capability. The committee is pleased that the DOD is continuing this funding tradition in nano­photonics. World progress in the nanophotonics sector needs to be monitored, and the DOD must intervene if n ­ ecessary to ensure that the United States grows and maintains an in-country capability. One of the major advantages that the U.S. military enjoys over its adversaries is its systems c ­ apabilities. The U.S. military is advised to maintain vigilance on how nanophotonics technology can enhance its military systems capabilities should some of the nanophotonics devices, modules, and appli- cations on the horizon materialize. recommendation Recommendation 5-1. The committee recommends that the intelligence technology warning com- munity establish, maintain, and systematically update and analyze a comprehensive array of indica- tors pertaining to the globalization and commercialization of nanophotonics technologies that would complement and focus intelligence collection on and analysis of the topic. This effort should have a strong focus on monitoring the developments of the technology in countries not predisposed to selling such tech­nology for use in U.S. military systems. The ITWC is advised to monitor those countries that have strong backgrounds in related technologies, integrated optics, semiconductor lasers, compound semiconductors, microelectronics, and nano-scale photolithography. References Huang, Zan, Hsinchun Chen, Zhi-kai Chen, and Mihail C. Roco. 2004. International nanotechnology development in 2003: Country, institution, and technology field analysis based on USPTO patent database. Journal of Nanoparticle Research 6(4):325-354. 

174 Nanophotonics National Nanotechnology Initiative. 2007. About the NNI: Funding 2007. Available at http://www.nano.gov/html/about/­ funding.html. Accessed April 10, 2007. NRC (National Research Council). 2005. Engineering Research and America’s Future: Meeting the Challenges of a Global Economy. Edited by J.J. Duderstadt. Washington, D.C.: The National Academies Press. National Research Council. 2006. Critical Technology Accessibility. Washington, D.C.: The National Academies Press. National Research Council. 2007. Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Eco- nomic Future. Washington, D.C.: The National Academies Press. Nikkei Electronics Asia. 2007. NEC Develops Si-Nanophotonics Technology for Optical Interconnection in LSI 2006. Available at http://neasia.nikkeibp.com/newsarchivedetail/top/003424/. Accessed April 10, 2007. Strategies Unlimited. 2005. Nanophotonics: Assessment of Technology and Market Opportunities. Mountain View, Calif.: PennWell Corporation.