美国国家科学院和白宫科学技术局已经监定出联邦政府应予投资的4个研究领域:界面与薄膜、决策与解决问题、蛋白质结构与生物机能以及病毒性疾病的防治。界面与薄膜。界面与薄膜提供了一种研究物质的原子结构如何影响其硬度及传导性等属性的方法,因为在界面与薄膜状态下的物质的原子结构比在一般固态或液态下更易被控制。界面与薄膜在通讯技术、以硅为基础的半导体工业、细胞生物学及组织对其它物质的反应方式、抗锈蚀、预防物体在受力情况下断裂破损以及能源生产等方面都是极为重要的。由科学院召集的一个专家小组说,美国政府若在这方面增加投资就可通过采用尖端技术 The National Academies of Sciences and the White House Science and Technology Agency have identified four areas of research that the federal government should invest in: interface and film, decision-making and problem solving, protein structure and biological functions, and the prevention and treatment of viral diseases. Interface and film. Interfaces and films provide a means to study how the atomic structure of matter affects the properties such as hardness and conductivity because the atomic structure of the material at the interface and in the thin film is easier to control than in normal solid or liquid state. Interfaces and thin films are of paramount importance in communications technology, the silicon-based semiconductor industry, cell biology and the organization's response to other materials, resistance to rust, the prevention of breakage of objects under stress, and energy production. An expert panel convened by the Academy of Sciences said that if the U.S. government increases its investment in this area, it can adopt the advanced technology