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The Kavli Nanoscience Institute (KNI) at Caltech emphasizes nanoscale research at the frontiers of electronics, photonics, quantum matter and technology, medical and bio-engineering, additive manufacturing and sustainability. The KNI is an intellectual hub and facilitator of cross-disciplinary research in the areas of nanoscience and nanotechnology. It is the home of an advanced nanofabrication and characterization facility which drives this research. Over the past two decades KNI has been critical to realizing exciting breakthroughs in nano-scale photonics, materials science, and biotechnology.

Established in late 2003, the Kavli Nanoscience Institute became the first Kavli Institute dedicated to nanoscience. Along with additional support from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the KNI built and opened the doors to the KNI Laboratory in 2008. The KNI Laboratory is Caltech's first centralized multi-user facility dedicated to advanced nano-scale fabrication and characterization capabilities, and it serves as a critical resource for researchers from Caltech, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and several Southern California universities and industries. Within Caltech itself, more than 120 researchers across five academic divisions and 30 faculty research groups utilize the KNI Laboratory for their scientific investigations.

Additionally, through its summer research fellowships, outreach efforts, and funding opportunities for early-career faculty and pre-seed research ideas, the KNI serves as the center of Caltech's nanoscience community, bringing together scientists and engineers to exchange ideas and to develop partnerships.

Background

Richard Feynman

In December 1959, at the meeting of the American Physical Society, Caltech professor and Nobel laureate Richard Feynman delivered a lecture titled: There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom. His talk described the possibility of making new scientific discoveries through the direct manipulation of individual atoms, and is often considered to have encouraged the development of nanoscience.

This field has developed rapidly in the decades since Feynman's lecture.  Application of nanotechnology has led to new medical devices, new drug delivery systems, new techniques for tissue engineering, novel nano- and meta-materials with designed properties for optoelectronic applications, improvements in computing and communication devices, higher quantum efficiency in energy generation and conservation, and better processes for water and air treatment. For instance, lighter and stronger materials made possible through nanotechnology have been used in aerospace and construction, and nanotechnologies for lighting and insulation systems could play a key role in reducing energy consumption. Common consumer goods, such as optics and textiles, have also benefited from advancements in the field of nanoscience.