PORTLAND — An Oregon company has joined the international effort to develop the first nanotechnology center in Russia.

FEI Co., the only U.S. manufacturer of scanning electron microscopes, announced Monday it is supplying equipment to the Center for Nanotechnology Excellence in Moscow, which officially opened last weekend.

Bob Gregg, FEI executive vice president, says it is part of a nanotechnology boom that has been picking up speed in the past few years.

“This is not just happening in a few isolated places,’’ Gregg said. “It’s happening everywhere. It’s exploding.’’

The multimillion-dollar center is being funded by the Russian Federation as part of an estimated $400 million overall investment in nanotechnology development in Russia in 2007, FEI officials said.

Combined government investment in nanotechnology development is expected to reach $5 billion in 2006 while private investment is expected to reach nearly $6 billion, the company said.

Nanotechnology involves the development of new materials, drugs and industrial processes at the submicroscopic and even atomic level.

Sean Murdock, executive director of the U.S.-based NanoBusiness Alliance, said government nanotechnology investments were initially led by Europe, Japan and North America.

“Now countries such as Russia, China, Brazil and India have joined the trend and are making significant investments,’’ Murdock said.

Gregg said FEI, based in suburban Hillsboro, already has customers in Brazil and India, with at least 20 sales in India alone during the first quarter of this year.

Last February, the Bush administration proposed $8 million in funding for a federal nanotechnology center in Oregon to be managed by the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute, a joint venture of Oregon State University, the University of Oregon and Portland State University.

The initial project would involve developing ways to make military electronics gear run cooler.

The proposal is awaiting congressional approval, which is expected before the Labor Day break at the end of August, Todd Simmons, an Oregon State University spokesman, said Monday.

Sens. Ron Wyden and Gordon Smith of Oregon, both longtime supporters of nanotechnology development, had pushed for the funding.

The FEI sale of equipment for Russia’s new research center “underscores the respect the Oregon nanotechnology sector is receiving around the globe,’’ Wyden said Monday.

“I look forward to hearing about more positive developments like this one as Oregon’s nanotechnology sector continues to grow, providing benefits for our state’s economy.’’

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