Australia, the world’s biggest island, is poised for potential in the world’s smallest technology.

Australian innovators are creating wonders in nanotechnology – “the world that abandons the centimetre”. Australian nanotechnology experts developed the bionic ear, and others are working on synthetic opals, invisible anti-UV sunscreen, and even self-repairing car duco!

Nanotechnology is the building of (and control over) materials and devices at the level of atoms and molecules. It is predicted to become as influential in the 21st century as information technology has been in the 20th. Some have even tagged nanotechnology as the “world’s second industrial revolution.”

Leaders in the tiny revolution
There is no doubt that nanotechnology, working on scales of one billionth part of a metre, will have an enormous impact on a large number of industries – and it will change our lives. Australia is set to be a part of the revolution, its local companies and research institutes working at the forefront of nanotechnology.

Australian companies and research institutions are discovering and developing a diverse range of expertise in nanotechnologies for industries such as ICT, manufacturing, electronics, pharmaceuticals, medical, textiles, fibre, agriculture, national security, aeronautics and space exploration, energy and the environment.

Australian research and product development is already producing some amazing results, with a multitude of commercial applications. Production of nano-sized materials and particles has reaped results for Australian innovators like Micronisers PL and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). Together they have produced a next-generation sunscreen using ultrafine powder. Australian scientists have also discovered that tiny particles could create ‘smart materials’ like self-repairing paint with inbuilt‘corrosion inhibitors’.

Australian scientists are also working on ICT solutions using nanotechnology. For example, Monash University’s Department of Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering in Melbourne is developing nano-electronics and nanophotonics solutions including applications of synchrotron techniques in advanced electronics and photonic technology. Its work also includes quantum photonics computing and quantum signal processing.

Industry and scientists in Australia are coming together to further develop nanometre-sized biosensors that can become tiny electronic noses, vision and hearing systems to give consumer products like washing machines and internet-connected refrigerators a human-like quality. Australians are also developing nano-sized polymer-based composite materials which could greatly enhance mechanical strength, heat and flame resistance, and permeability of materials, with possible applications in future aircraft and automobiles.

Overseas business investors too, have reaped the rewards of Australia’s shining prospects in nanotechnology. In 2000, Korean-based electronics giant Samsung Corning entered into a joint venture with Advanced Powder Technology (APT), a spin-off company from the University of Western Australia in Perth. The new company, Advanced Nano Technologies (ANT), produces a wide range of nano-sized powders with particles as small as two nanometres (a nanometre is a billionth of a metre) using APT’s patented Mechanochemical Processing (MCP) technology. MCP technology is capable of producing the smallest nano powders on the market today and has several other features that give it a competitive edge, such as low levels of powder agglomeration and unique morphologies.

Sydney-based company Ambri Pty Ltd, a spin-off company from CSIRO research, developed the world’s first (and so far only) nanometre-sized working device, a biosensor, said to be “so sensitive it can detect a change after a sugar cube is added to Sydney Harbour”. Ambri hopes to launch a series of targeted drug or disease markers. The company’s first product is to be a biosensor that is able to detect the pregnancy hormone ‘hcg’, closely followed by the Cardiac Marker Product, which will be used to detect indicators of heart damage. In addition to medical applications, Ambri also sees opportunities for its biosensors in markets such as food testing, veterinary diagnostics and environmental monitoring.

Another local company to watch is Melbourne-based Starpharma Pooled Development Fund, a research and development group. Starpharma has commercialised polyvalent drug technology, creating drugs to combat serious viral diseases. The group has exclusive world rights to dendrimer molecule technology, discovered at Melbourne’s Biomolecular Research Institute, and has a ‘global research network’ throughout Europe and the United States. Starpharma has also committed nearly US$2.2m to finance start-up Dendritic Nanotechnologies Limited, a new Australian company developing products also using dendrimer nanotechnology. Australian biotechnology company, PanBio, plans to invest A$1m to the project.

World-first nano degree
Australia’s universities are at the heart of the nanotechnology revolution, and interdisciplinary infrastructure has been set up, boding well for Australia’s future potential. In late 2001, the University of Queensland and the Queensland state government established a A$50m Australian Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology. It was the first project to receive funding under Queensland’s A$100m Smart State Research Facilities Fund. The University of Technology, Sydney, also established an Institute of Nanoscale Technology in late 2001.

Several Australian universities have joined forces and established the Nano-structural Analysis Network Organisation (NANO). NANO will deliver new capabilities in atomic and molecular level imaging, analysis and manipulation to support and enable nanotechnology and biotechnology research. The universities will form a joint venture with a group of corporate partners.

Flinders University, South Australia, offered the world’s first undergraduate degree in nanotechnology in 2001, focusing on two main streams: biosensors and nano-structures. In 2002, other Australian universities will offer Bachelors of Science and Honours-level degree programmes in nanotechnology. These include Curtin University of Technology in Western Australia, University of New South Wales in Sydney, the University of Technology, Sydney and Griffith University in Queensland.

All of Australia’s major universities offer Masters of Science or Doctor of Philosophy level programmes in cognate areas such as physics, chemistry and engineering.

First-class R&D
The Semiconductor Nanofabrication Facility (SNF) at Sydney’s University of New South Wales provides an Australian capability for the fabrication of advanced nano-scale semiconductor devices and their integration within microelectronics. The facility aims to develop a prototype silicon nuclear spin quantum computer. It also fabricates and measures advanced semiconductor nanostructures.

SNF has close links with the United States and its network extends to collaborative research groups at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The facility has works funded by the US Advanced Research and Development Activity (ARDA) and works with various organisations such as the University of Maryland, Caltech, Microsoft Research, IBM Research, UC Berkeley, University of Massachusetts, and with University of Cambridge, UK and University of Wales, UK.

The facility has participation rights in the US Quantum Computing Program Review group.

CSIRO nanotech projects
The CSIRO, Australia’s largest research organisation, runs a variety of nanotechnology projects. The Molecular Sciences Division, for example, has a patent in the area of the production of aligned and patterned carbon nanotubes (left) showing promise for many different applications from miniature electronic devices to implantable biosensors. One example of an application for this technology is using carbon nanotubes to build higher-quality, more energy-efficient screens for televisions and computers.

The CSIRO also uses carbon nano-tubes as biosensors with applications in diagnostic, food and pharmaceutical industries and for application in textiles utilising the properties of electrical conductivity and high mechanical strength.

CSIRO Telecommunications and Industrial Physics constructs microwave integrated circuits for the telecommunications and defence industries. Scientists are working on devices in micron and sub-micron dimensions as well as nanometre-thickness growth and deposition of semiconductor material, metals and dielectrics.

At the Royal Melbourne Institute for Technology (RMIT), several research groups focus on nanotechnology. The Integrated Optics Research Group is investigating the design and fabrication of planar optical waveguide devices. Devices being studied include wideband optical intensity modulators and integrated acousto-optic tunable filters. The Sensor Technology Research Group is investigating a range of high-performance thin film sensors for industrial and environmental applications. The Electronic Materials and Devices Group is studying materials and processes for the fabrication of new electronic and optoelectronic devices. The Micromachines Research Group is developing micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) for industrial applications, one example being the production of a micro-magnetic bearing.

The Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering at the Australian National University, Canberra also has extensive nanotechnology knowledge and experience. Major research and development includes electronic materials and devices, photonics and optical devices, lasers, plasma processing, surface physics and chemistry, atomic and molecular physics, plasma and nuclear physics, and accelerator mass spectrometry.

Acton Lasers is a recent commercial spin-off from this highly-skilled research base. The company’s vision is to become the major laser manufacturer and device innovator in the active components space of the optical communications/IT sector.

Government backing
The Australian Government knows the potential of its nanotechnology industry. It has recently launched a website (www.nanotechnology.gov.au) as a single entry point for information on Australian capabilities and players in nanotechnology.

Invest Australia, the Australian Government’s national investment agency, provides information about establishing or expanding a business in Australia. With 15 locations worldwide, investment specialists can provide free investment advice from almost anywhere in the world.

For further information, contact:
Invest Australia
Telephone: +61 2 6213 7560/7715
Email: investaustralia@isr.gov.au
Websites: www.investaustralia.gov.au
www.nanotechnology.gov.au