Molecular Nanotechnology zyvex/nano

1. Molecular Nanotechnologywww.zyvex.com/nano Ralph C. Merkle Principal Fellow, Zyvex www.merkle.com Zyvex

2. Nick Smith, ChairmanHouse Subcommittee on Basic ResearchJune 22, 1999 In Fiscal Year 1999, the federal government will spend approximately $230 million on nanotechnology research. Zyvex

3. National Nanotechnology Initiative • Interagency (AFOSR, ARO, BMDO, DARPA, DOC, DOE, NASA, NIH, NIST, NSF, ONR, and NRL) • Congressional hearings • Objective: double funding through existing channels Zyvex

4. Academic and Industry • Caltech’s MSC (1999 Feynman Prize), Rice CNST (Smalley), USC Lab for Molecular Robotics, etc • Private nonprofit (Foresight, IMM) • Private for profit (IBM, Zyvex, Covalent) • And many more…. Zyvex

5. There is a growing sense in the scientific and technical community that we are about to enter a golden new era. Richard Smalley 1996 Nobel Prize, Chemistry http://www.house.gov/ science/smalley_062299.htm Zyvex

6. The principles of physics, as far as I can see, do not speak against the possibility of maneuvering things atom by atom. It is not anattempt to violate any laws; it is something, in principle, that can be done; but in practice, it has not been done because we are toobig. Richard Feynman, 1959 http://www.zyvex.com/nanotech/feynman.html Zyvex

7. The book that laid out the technical argument for molecular nanotechnology:Nanosystemsby K. Eric Drexler, Wiley 1992 Zyvex

8. Three historical trendsin manufacturing • More flexible • More precise • Less expensive Zyvex

9. The limit of these trends: nanotechnology • Fabricate most structures consistent with physical law • Get essentially every atom in the right place • Inexpensive (~10-50 cents/kilogram) http://www.zyvex.com/nano Zyvex

10. Coal Sand Dirt, water and air Diamonds Computer chips Grass It matters how atoms are arranged Zyvex

11. Today’s manufacturing methods move atoms in statistical herds • Casting • Grinding • Welding • Sintering • Lithography Zyvex

12. Possible arrangements of atoms . What we can make today (not to scale) Zyvex

13. The goal: a healthy bite. . Zyvex

14. Products Products Core molecular manufacturing capabilities Products Products Products Products Products Products Products Products Products Products Products Today Products Products Products Products Products Overview of the development of molecular nanotechnology Products Products Products Products Products Products Products Zyvex Products

15. Terminological caution “Nanotechnology” has been applied to almost any research where some dimension is less than a micron (1,000 nanometers) in size. Example: sub-micron optical lithography Zyvex

16. Two morefundamental ideas • Self replication (for low cost) • Positional assembly (so molecular parts go where we want them to go) Zyvex

17. Von Neumann architecture for a self replicating system Universal Computer Universal Constructor http://www.zyvex.com/nanotech/vonNeumann.html Zyvex

18. Drexler’s architecture for an assembler Molecular computer Molecular constructor Positional device Tip chemistry Zyvex

19. Illustration of an assembler http://www.foresight.org/UTF/Unbound_LBW/chapt_6.html Zyvex

20. Advanced Automation for Space Missions Proceedings of the 1980 NASA/ASEE Summer Study The theoretical concept of machine duplication is well developed. There are several alternative strategies by which machine self-replication can be carried out in a practical engineering setting. http://www.zyvex.com/nanotech/selfRepNASA.html Zyvex

21. A C program that prints out an exact copy of itself main(){char q=34, n=10,*a="main() {char q=34,n=10,*a=%c%s%c; printf(a,q,a,q,n);}%c";printf(a,q,a,q,n);} For more information, see the Recursion Theorem: http://www.zyvex.com/nanotech/selfRep.html Zyvex

22. English translation: Print the following statement twice, the second time in quotes: “Print the following statement twice, the second time in quotes:” Zyvex

23. Complexity of self replicating systems (bits) • C program 800 • Von Neumann's universal constructor 500,000 • Internet worm (Robert Morris, Jr., 1988) 500,000 • Mycoplasma capricolum 1,600,000 • E. Coli 9,278,442 • Drexler's assembler 100,000,000 • Human 6,400,000,000 • NASA Lunar • Manufacturing Facility over 100,000,000,000 http://www.zyvex.com/nanotech/selfRep.html Zyvex

24. How cheap? • Potatoes, lumber, wheat and other agricultural products are examples of products made using a self replicating manufacturing base. Costs of roughly a dollar per pound are common. • Molecular manufacturing will make almost any product for a dollar per pound or less, independent of complexity. (Design costs, licensing costs, etc. not included) Zyvex

25. How long? • The scientifically correct answer is I don’t know • Trends in computer hardware suggest early in the next century — perhaps in the 2010 to 2020 time frame • Of course, how long it takes depends on what we do Zyvex

26. Developmental pathways • Scanning probe microscopy • Self assembly • Ever smaller systems • Hybrid approaches Zyvex

27. Moving molecules with an SPM (Gimzewski et al.) http://www.zurich.ibm.com/News/Molecule/ Zyvex

28. Self assembled DNA octahedron(Seeman) http://seemanlab4.chem.nyu.edu/nano-oct.html Zyvex

29. DNA on an SPM tip(Lee et al.) http://stm2.nrl.navy.mil/1994scie/1994scie.html Zyvex

30. Buckytubes(Tough, well defined) Zyvex

31. Buckytube glued to SPM tip(Dai et al.) http://cnst.rice.edu/TIPS_rev.htm Zyvex

32. Building the tools to build the tools • Directly manufacturing a diamondoid assembler using existing techniques appears very difficult . • We’ll have to build intermediate systems able to build better systems able to build diamondoid assemblers. Zyvex

33. If we can make whatever we want what do we want to make? Zyvex

34. Diamond Physical Properties PropertyDiamond’s valueComments Chemical reactivity Extremely low Hardness (kg/mm2) 9000 CBN: 4500 SiC: 4000 Thermal conductivity (W/cm-K) 20 Ag: 4.3 Cu: 4.0 Tensile strength (pascals) 3.5 x 109 (natural) 1011 (theoretical) Compressive strength (pascals) 1011 (natural) 5 x 1011 (theoretical) Band gap (ev) 5.5 Si: 1.1 GaAs: 1.4 Resistivity (W-cm) 1016 (natural) Density (gm/cm3) 3.51 Thermal Expansion Coeff (K-1) 0.8 x 10-6 SiO2: 0.5 x 10-6 Refractive index 2.41 @ 590 nm Glass: 1.4 - 1.8 Coeff. of Friction 0.05 (dry) Teflon: 0.05 Source: Crystallume Zyvex

35. Strength of diamond • Diamond has a strength-to-weight ratio over 50 times that of steel or aluminium alloy • Structural (load bearing) mass can be reduced by about this factor • When combined with reduced cost, this will have a major impact on aerospace applications Zyvex

36. A hydrocarbon bearing http://www.zyvex.com/nanotech/bearingProof.html Zyvex

37. Neon pump Zyvex

38. A planetary gear http://www.zyvex.com/nanotech/gearAndCasing.html Zyvex

39. A proposal for a molecular positional device Zyvex

40. Classical uncertainty σ: mean positional error k: restoring force kb: Boltzmann’s constant T: temperature Zyvex

41. A numerical example of classical uncertainty σ: 0.02 nm (0.2 Å) k: 10 N/m kb: 1.38 x 10-23 J/K T: 300 K Zyvex

42. Molecular tools • Today, we make things at the molecular scale by stirring together molecular parts and cleverly arranging things so they spontaneously go somewhere useful. • In the future, we’ll have molecular “hands” that will let us put molecular parts exactly where we want them, vastly increasing the range of molecular structures that we can build. Zyvex

43. Synthesis of diamond today:diamond CVD • Carbon: methane (ethane, acetylene...) • Hydrogen: H2 • Add energy, producing CH3, H, etc. • Growth of a diamond film. The right chemistry, but little control over the site of reactions or exactly what is synthesized. Zyvex

44. A hydrogen abstraction tool http://www.zyvex.com/nanotech/Habs/Habs.html Zyvex

45. Some other molecular tools Zyvex

46. A synthetic strategy for the synthesis of diamondoid structures • Positional assembly (6 degrees of freedom) • Highly reactive compounds (radicals, carbenes, etc) • Inert environment (vacuum, noble gas) to eliminate side reactions Zyvex

47. The impact of nanotechnologydepends on what’s being made • Computers, memory, displays • Space Exploration • Medicine • Military • Environment, Energy, etc. Zyvex

48. Powerful computers • In the future we’ll pack more computing power into a sugar cube than the sum total of all the computer power that exists in the world today • We’ll be able to store more than 1021 bits in the same volume • Or more than a billion Pentiums operating in parallel • Powerful enough to run Windows 2015 Zyvex

49. Memory probe Zyvex

50. Displays • Molecular machines smaller than a wavelength of light will let us build holographic displays that reconstruct the entire wave front of a light wave • It will be like looking through a window into another world • Covering walls, ceilings and floor would immerse us in another reality Zyvex