New commercial & corporate R&D propel nanotech tools' growth
14 Sep '05
3 min read
The current market for nanotechnology tools is dominated by inspection tools, which account for 95 per cent of 2004 revenue and saw dramatic growth during the early 2000s nanotech explosion, when many university nanoscience centers were constructed.
The growth outlook for the next five years, however, looks very different. 'Growth for nanotech inspection tools through 2010 depends on corporate R&D, because the university and national lab market is saturated,' explained Lux Research Analyst Vahé Mamikunian, co-author of the report.
'In fabrication and modeling, growth prospects look much stronger – applications for nanoimprint lithography, a prominent fabrication tool, will grain traction through 2010, and modeling will see higher adoption as vendors like Accelrys offer improved commercial tools.'
While the predicted growth of nanotech tools as a whole is steady at a compound annual growth rate of 11 per cent, the individual categories each tell a different story.
The report debunks a number of myths about nanotech tools. 'There's an expectation that nanotech inspection tools will see a big boost from being adopted by nanomaterials manufacturers for quality control in the factory,' said Lux Research Analyst and report co-author Dr. Michael Holman.
'But the nanomaterials manufacturers they spoke to tell that faster and cheaper alternatives are available for routine quality control, and that they only need inspection tools like scanning probe microscopes and electron microscopes for process development and spot checks. When these companies begin shipping products, they don't see the need to buy new tools beyond what they already have for R&D.'
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