Evolutionary trajectories of the nanotechnology research across worldwide economic players

The purpose of this paper is to analyse, by concentration measures and metrics of heterogeneity, the evolutionary trajectories of scientific output in nanotechnology research across worldwide economic players. The results show that the concentration in nanotechnology research has been reducing over time and space. In particular, the pattern of nanotechnology research has been spreading among different scientific domains and pathways, generating new technological paradigms mainly in chemistry, medicine and engineering research fields. This scientific analysis is important in order to explore the current knowledge growth and technological trajectories in nanotechnology research that may support future patterns of technological innovation.