Nanotech Is Changing How We See the World

As I combed the Internet for some worthwhile subject for you, my faithful readers, I stumbled upon this great article at Nanowerk about microscopy and nanotech.

You see, very little can be done at the atomic level unless you can see what you’re doing. And that’s where modern microscopes come in. These aren’t the microscopes from your biology class.

In my paid product The Real Nanotech Investor, I recommend one of the world’s leading microscopy companies in the Portfolio because nothing nano and nothing micro gets done without a scanning electron microscope (SEM), focused ion beam (FIB), transmission electron microscope (TEM) or one of the half-dozen other acronymed cutting-edge microscopes of the 21st century.

Even the technologies that the microscopes employ are getting more and more refined. As they enhance observation and manipulation of matter of smaller and smaller sizes, they're also helping advance their own technologies. And many of the technologies in use today have been around for decades, but they’ve been refined to absolutely remarkable levels.

The other aspect of modern microscopy is that you’re not simply observing at that level. There are many more things you can do—i.e., deposit a catalytic molecule to create a certain reaction, carve silicon semiconductor chips (lithography) or build nanomachines. That means any company engaging in any sort of miniaturized work--or using such work for an end product--is going to have to start ponying up for this kind of equipment.

Also, the biotech and healthcare sectors are coming to grips with the necessity of stepping up their microscopy game. And that’s the point: Computers, healthcare, biotech, telecom and more are becoming increasingly reliant on this technology to keep ahead of the competition and improve performance.

My favorite play on this sector is FEI Co, although I also like Hitachi. I like the latter more for other reasons, but it does have a solid rep in the healthcare sector. There’s also Veeco, KLA-Tencor and a handful of others either directly or tangentially related to the sector.

The Nanowerk piece looks at the field from the perspective of how atomic force microscopy (AFM) has changed the way we view the world in the most literal and most infinitesimal ways. For additional coverage on this topic, I also recommend reading this article and others from Nano Today.

As I said, this may not seem like something that’s important to know, and it certainly isn’t sexy. But that’s usually where the money is made—in the necessary, fundamental products and processes. The more you learn, the better investor you’ll become, especially when it comes to fast-moving high tech.