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	The 2nd Workshop on NanoTechnology Transfer in Europe December 13, 2006 \| Hotel Mercure Paris Montmartre \| Paris, France Hosted by European Nano Systems 2006

NanoTransfer 2006

Hans-Jörg Fecht - Chaired Professor of Materials Science, University of Ulm; Senior Scientist, "Nanostructured Materials", INT, FZK, Karlsruhe, Germany

Recent Developments of NanoMaterials and Their Industrial Applications

Nanotechnology is generally characterized by an largely improved performance of components, small quantities of raw material and a high added value. Various future oriented technologies such as micro(nano)mechanics, micro(nano)electronics and nanobiotechnology do profit from these recent developments.
WMtech (Center for Micro- and Nanomaterials; Werkstoffe der Mikro- und Nanotechnologie) conducts research, development and technology transfer in the field of materials for nanoscience and nanotechnology. In particular, it offers an important competitive advantage to small and medium size companies. As such, WMtech develops and produces new materials with tailored properties in close cooperation with industrial partners. Besides microintegration, reliability and extended lifetime of multifunctional nanostuctured materials the development of new applications, components and products is in the focus of the R&D efforts.
The correlation between the nano- and microstructure of a material and its physical and chemical properties therefore is the key issue in the development of advanced materials and components. Recently, in this field considerable progress has been achieved by the production of new materials with an atomic structure on a nanometer scale, for example bulk metallic glasses and nanodiamond. An overview will be given concerning trends in the development and application of these new classes of metallic and non-metallic materials as well as the transfer to industrial products already in progress.
In terms of consumer technologies and applications two examples will be discussed here: (i) The production of high-precision metallic parts of bulk metallic glass (LiquidMetal) prepared by advanced casting techniques. These materials with a structural short range order of only 1 to 2 nm exhibit excellent mechanical properties (ultrahigh strength, high stiffness, low specific weight) and are being already used or tested indifferent fields of applications. (ii) the synthesis and structuring of high-precision microparts of nanocrystalline diamond prepared by CVD techniques on a large scale. Here the nanostructure is absolutely necessary in order to produce a smooth surface finish. Applications of thick nanocrystalline diamond layers will be presented, for example, microwheels in mechanical watches and high-end cutting tools with a life-time extended by more than one order of magnitude.

This work is performed in close cooperation with several start-up companies, such as LiquidMetal Technologies LMT (Lake Forrest, USA), Gesellschaft für Diamantprodukte GFD (Ulm, Germany) and NanoMicroTechnologyConsulting NMTC (Berlin, Germany). These partners are in the process of commercializing some of the new developments. For example, LMT develops and produces new applications for ultrahigh strength and low specific weight applications, for example for sport goods, eyewear, electronic casing, antennas for cell phones, industrial coatings etc. in Europe and worldwide (www.liquidmetal.com). GFD is the leading company in the micro-structuring of CVD-grown diamond. Cutting blades with the Brand name Diamaze PSD (Plasma Sharpened Diamond) combine the unmatched hardness of diamond with the benefits of an extremely sharp cutting edge with improved cutting performance and lifetime (www.gfd-diamond.com). NMTC supports these activities in consulting, project management in different fields of Nanotechnology, market studies and contract research (www.nmtc.de).

References

H.-J. Fecht and M. Werner: The Nano-Micro-Interface NaMiX (Wiley-VCH)
C. Yannick and H.-J. Fecht: Nano-Architectures and Nanostructured Materials (Wiley-VCH)

Current Position:
Chaired Professor of Materials Science at University of Ulm
Senior Scientist "Nanostructured Materials", INT, FZK, Karlsruhe

Scientific Vita:
1980 - 1984 Research Assistant, University of Saarbrücken,
                 Department of Materials Science and Engineering
1984 - 1987 Post-Doctoral Research Associate
                 Department of Materials Science and Engineering
                 University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA
1987 - 1990 Senior Research Associate
                 Department of Materials Science
                 California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA
1990 - 1993 Professor of Physics
                 University of Augsburg, Germany
1993 - 1997 Chaired Professor of Materials Science
                 Director of Institute of Metals Research
                 Technical University Berlin, Germany
1997 -      Chaired Professor of Materials Science and Engg.
                Director Center of Excellence "Nano- and MicroMaterials"
                University of Ulm, Germany
2001 -      Group leader within the "Nanostructured Materials" depart. of the FZK

Awards:
2005: Head of Nanomaterials Activity of DGM
2004: Innovationspreis des VDI
2003: Pioneer of Nanotechnology (Deutsche Bank AG)
1998: G.W. Leibniz-Award (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG)
1984: Fellow of Max-Kade-Gesellschaft (New York)