Nanotechnology http nano xerox comnano Ralph C Merkle

Nanotechnology http: //nano. xerox. com/nano Ralph C. Merkle Xerox PARC www. merkle. com 1

See http: //nano. xerox. com/nanotech/talks for an index of talks 2

Sixth Foresight Conference on Molecular Nanotechnology November 12 -15 Santa Clara, CA www. foresight. org/Conferences 3

Manufactured products are made from atoms. The properties of those products depend on how those atoms are arranged. 4

It matters how atoms are arranged • Coal • Sand • Dirt, water and air • Diamonds • Computer chips • Grass 5

Today’s manufacturing methods move atoms in great thundering statistical herds • • • Casting Grinding Welding Sintering Lithography 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 an attempt to violate any laws; it is something, in principle, that can be done; but in practice, it has not been done because we are too big. Richard Feynman, 1959 http: //nano. xerox. com/nanotech/feynman. html 7

Most interesting structures that are at least substantial local minima on a potential energy surface can probably be made one way or another. Richard Smalley Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, 1996 8

Nanotechnology (a. k. a. molecular manufacturing) • Fabricate most structures that are specified with molecular detail and which are consistent with physical law • Get essentially every atom in the right place • Inexpensive manufacturing costs (~10 -50 cents/kilogram) http: //nano. xerox. com/nano 9

Terminological caution The word “nanotechnology” has become very popular. It can be used indiscriminately to refer to almost any research area where some dimension is less than a micron (1, 000 nanometers) in size. Example: sub-micron lithography 10

Possible arrangements of atoms What we can make today (not to scale). 11

The goal of molecular nanotechnology: a healthy bite. . 12

Molecular Manufacturing We don’t have molecular manufacturing today. . We must develop fundamentally new capabilities. What we can make today (not to scale) 13

“. . . the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new. This coolness arises. . . from the incredulity of men, who do not readily believe in new things until they have had a long experience of them. ” from The Prince, by Niccolo Machiavelli 14

We’ll start a major project to develop nanotechnology when we answer “yes” to three questions: • Is it feasible? • Is it valuable? • Can we do things today to speed it’s development? 15

Products Produc Core molecular Products manufacturing Products capabilities Products Today Overview of the development of molecular nanotechnology Products Products Products Products Products 16 Products

Two more fundamental ideas • Self replication (for low cost) • Programmable positional control (to make molecular parts go where we want them to go) 17

Von Neumann architecture for a self replicating system Universal Computer Universal Constructor http: //nano. xerox. com/nanotech/von. Neumann. html 18

Drexler’s architecture for an assembler Molecular computer Molecular constructor Positional device Tip chemistry 19

Illustration of an assembler http: //www. foresight. org/UTF/Unbound_LBW/chapt_6. html 20

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. Advanced Automation for Space Missions Proceedings of the 1980 NASA/ASEE Summer Study http: //nano. xerox. com/nanotech/self. Rep. NASA. html 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, n); }%c"; printf(a, q, n); } For more information, see the Recursion Theorem: http: //nano. xerox. com/nanotech/self. Rep. html 22

Complexity of self replicating systems (bits) C program 808 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 Human 6, 400, 000 NASA Lunar Manufacturing Facility over 100, 000, 000 http: //nano. xerox. com/nanotech/self. Rep. html 23

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) 24

How strong? • 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 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 26

Developmental pathways • Scanning probe microscopy • Self assembly • Hybrid approaches 27

Moving molecules with an SPM (Gimzewski et al. ) http: //www. zurich. ibm. com/News/Molecule/ 28

Self assembled DNA octahedron (Seeman) http: //seemanlab 4. chem. nyu. edu/nano-oct. html 29

DNA on an SPM tip (Lee et al. ) http: //stm 2. nrl. navy. mil/1994 scie. html 30

Buckytubes (Tough, well defined) 31

Bucky tube glued to SPM tip (Dai et al. ) http: //cnst. rice. edu/TIPS_rev. htm 32

Building the tools to build the tools • Direct manufacture of a diamondoid assembler using existing techniques appears difficult (stronger statements have been made). • We should be able to build intermediate systems able to build better systems able to build diamondoid assemblers. 33

Diamond Physical Properties Property Diamond’s value. Comments Chemical reactivity Hardness (kg/mm 2) Thermal conductivity (W/cm-K) Tensile strength (pascals) Compressive strength (pascals) Band gap (ev) Resistivity (W-cm) Density (gm/cm 3) Thermal Expansion Coeff (K-1) Refractive index Coeff. of Friction Extremely low 9000 20 3. 5 x 109 (natural) 1011 (natural) 5. 5 1016 (natural) 3. 51 0. 8 x 10 -6 2. 41 @ 590 nm 0. 05 (dry) CBN: 4500 Si. C: 4000 Ag: 4. 3 Cu: 4. 0 1011 (theoretical) 5 x 1011 (theoretical) Si: 1. 1 Ga. As: 1. 4 Si. O 2: 0. 5 x 10 -6 Glass: 1. 4 - 1. 8 Teflon: 0. 05 Source: Crystallume 34

A hydrocarbon bearing http: //nano. xerox. com/nanotech/bearing. Proof. html 35

A planetary gear http: //nano. xerox. com/nanotech/gear. And. Casing. html 36

A proposal for a molecular positional device 37

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. 38

Synthesis of diamond today: diamond CVD • Carbon: methane (ethane, acetylene. . . ) • Hydrogen: H 2 • Add energy, producing CH 3, H, etc. • Growth of a diamond film. The right chemistry, but little control over the site of reactions or exactly what is synthesized. 39

A hydrogen abstraction tool http: //nano. xerox. com/nanotech/Habs. html 40

Some other molecular tools 41

A synthetic strategy for the synthesis of diamondoid structures • Positional control (6 degrees of freedom) • Highly reactive compounds (radicals, carbenes, etc) • Inert environment (vacuum, noble gas) to eliminate side reactions 42

The impact of molecular manufacturing depends on what’s being manufactured • • • Computers Space Exploration Medicine Military Energy, Transportation, etc. 43

How powerful? • 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 44

Space • Launch vehicle structural mass will be reduced by about a factor of 50 • Cost per pound for that structural mass will be under a dollar • Which will reduce the cost to low earth orbit by a factor of better than 1, 000 http: //science. nasa. gov/Groups/Nanotechnol ogy/publications/1997/applications/ 45

It costs less to launch less • Light weight computers and sensors will reduce total payload mass for the same functionality • Recycling of waste will reduce payload mass, particularly for long flights and permanent facilities (space stations, colonies) 46

Disease and illness are caused largely by damage at the molecular and cellular level Today’s surgical tools are huge and imprecise in comparison http: //nano. xerox. com/nanotech/ 47

In the future, we will have fleets of surgical tools that are molecular both in size and precision. We will also have computers that are much smaller than a single cell with which to guide these tools. 48

A revolution in medicine • Today, loss of cell function results in cellular deterioration: function must be preserved • With future cell repair systems, passive structures can be repaired. Cell function can be restored provided cell structure can be inferred: structure must be preserved 49

Cryonics 37º C Temperature Freeze Revive -196º C (77 Kelvins) Time (~ 50 to 150 years) 50

Clinical trials to evaluate cryonics • • Select N subjects Freeze them Wait 100 years See if the medical technology of 2100 can indeed revive them But what do we tell those who don’t expect to live long enough to see the results? 51

Today’s choice: would you rather join The control group (no action required)? Or the experimental group (contact Alcor: www. alcor. org)? 52

Military applications of molecular manufacturing have even greater potential than nuclear weapons to radically change the balance of power. Admiral David E. Jeremiah, USN (Ret) Former Vice Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff http: //nano. xerox. com/nanotech/nano 4/jeremiah. Paper. htm November 9, 1995 53

Nanotechnology and energy • The sunshine reaching the earth has almost 40, 000 times more power than total world usage. • Molecular manufacturing will produce efficient, rugged solar cells and batteries at low cost. • Power costs will drop dramatically 54

Nanotechnology and the environment • Manufacturing plants pollute because they use crude and imprecise methods. • Molecular manufacturing is precise — it will produce only what it has been designed to produce. • An abundant source of carbon is the excess CO 2 in the air 55

The best way to predict the future is to invent it. Alan Kay 56