Ellen Spertus MCS 123/223 November 5, 2002 Nanotechnology Ellen Spertus MCS 123/223 November 5, 2002

Richard Feynman (1918-1988) Shared Nobel Prize in Physics, 1965 Known also for his personality “Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman” “What Do You Care What Other People Think?” Unique combination Theoretical physicist Practical Iconoclast

Challenger Disaster (1985) Part of review panel Known for Lambasting NASA Dunking O-ring Commitment to truth “For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled.”

Grandfather of nanotechnology “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom: An Invitation to Enter a New Field of Physics” Presented at the annual meeting of the American Physical Society, 1959 Published in Caltech’s Engineering and Science, 1960

Photo-reduction What would it take to inscribe the entire Encyclopedia Britannica on the head of a pin? Reduction in size by 25,000 Each dot would be the size of 1000 atoms In 1959, it was known how to read something that small. Feynman argued that soon we would be able to write that small.

Other forms of encoding Represent each character (letter, number, etc.) as a sequence of dots and dashes. Represent dots with one kind of metal (125 atoms), dashes with another. Store in 3 dimensions. All human knowledge could be stored in a piece of dust 1/200th of an inch wide!

Is dense information storage possible?

Prediction: Year 2000 “In the year 2000… they will wonder why it was not until the year 1960 that anybody began seriously to move in this direction.”

Prediction: microcomputers “There is nothing that I can see in the physical laws that says the computer elements cannot be made enormously smaller than they are now.”

History of the integrated circuit 1958-1959: Integrated circuit invented by Jack Kilby (Texas Instruments) Robert Noyce (Fairchild Semiconductor) 1965: Gordon Moore (Intel) Observes that the density of transistors (computing elements) has been doubling every two years Predicts this will continue or speed up Predicts 65,000 transistors per chip by 1975                                                                                                                                                                                      

Predictions “But I am not afraid to consider the final question as to whether, ultimately – in the great future – we can arrange the atoms the way we want; the very atoms, all the way down!” – Feynman, 1959 D.M. Eigler, E.K. Schweizer. Positioning single atoms with a scanning tunneling microscope. Nature 344, 524-526 (1990).

Copyright © 1998 by Sidney Harris

K. Eric Drexler (1955-) PhD, Molecular Nanotechnology, 1991 Books Engines of Creation, 1986 Unbounding the Future, 1991 Nanosystems,1992 Father of nanotechnology Founder and chairman, Foresight Institute

Chairman: Eric Drexler President: Christine Peterson Board of advisors (8) Doug Englebart, inventor of mouse, hypermedia, etc. Ray Kurzweil Marvin Minsky Senior associates (~500)

The term “Nanotechnology” Coined in 1974 by Nori Taniguchi to mean precision machining with tolerances of a micrometer or less Popularized by Drexler in 1986 By analogy with microtechnology micro = one-millionth (10-6) nano = one-billionth (10-9) Actually, 10-100 nm Source of coinage: Voss, David. “Moses of the Nanoworld.” Technology Review, March/April 1999. Source of 10-100 nm: Stix, Gary. “Little Big Science.” Scientific American, September 2001.

From Powers of Ten, by Philip and Phylis Morrison and the office of Charles and Ray Eames.

Views of Drexler Among engineering students “Moses of the nanoworld” – Technology Review, 1999 “No idea has gone from wild, fringe science to the dead center of mainstream research faster than nanotechnology.” – Red Herring, October 2000 http://www.redherring.com/mag/issue84/mag-scenarios-84.html

Engines of Construction Everything is made of atoms. Millennia ago, we manipulated trillions of trillions of atoms at a time. Throughout history, we’ve gotten better at manipulating matter. In the future, we’ll be able to manipulate individual atoms.                                                               

What’s a machine? “[A]ny system, usually of rigid bodies, formed and connected to alter, transmit, and direct applied forces in a predetermined manner to accomplish a specific objective, such as the performance of useful work.”

Another definition “An intricate natural system or organism, such as the human body.” “‘Thine evermore most dear lady, whilst this machine is to him, HAMLET.’” – Hamlet, Act II, Scene 1

Universal assemblers Nanomachines able to build any legal configuration of atoms Once the first universal assembler is built, the “two-week revolution” will begin. Also universal disassemblers Clean-up Duplication

Rejection of vitalism “Is there some special magic about life, essential to making molecular machinery work?” “This idea is called ‘vitalism.’ Biologists have abandoned it because they have found chemical and physical explanations for every aspect of living cells yet studied…”

Engines of Healing (ch. 7) “We will use molecular technology to bring health because the human body is made of molecules.” A supercomputer in every cell Curing “a disease called ‘aging’”. Cryogenics

Benjamin Franklin, 1773 “I wish it were possible … to invent a method of embalming drowned persons, in such a manner that they may be recalled to life at any period, however distant; for having a very ardent desire to see and observe the state of America a hundred years hence, I should prefer to an ordinary death, being immersed with a few friends in a cask of Madeira, until that time, then to be recalled to life.”

Nanotechnology funding                                           Scientific American, September 2001

Artificial and natural motors                                                       Scientific American, September 2001 http://www.sciam.com/2001/0901issue/0901whitesides.html

Universal assemblers Most scientists (at least in Scientific American, September 2001) do not think they are are possible. “Large finger” problem “Sticky finger” problem Foresight Institute offering $250,000 Feynman Grand Prize http://www.zyvex.com/nanotech/nano4/merklePaper.html

Carbon nanotubes 50,000 times as thin as a human hair As strong as diamond Can hold 100 times the current of metal wires Can be used to build transistors (logic gates) Being used in industry Near term: TV displays Long term: computers http://www.worldlink.co.uk/discuss/msgReader$227

J. Storrs Hall PhD in computer science Research areas Nanotechnology Computer architecture Programming languages Algorithms

Utility Fog Tiny robots able to Applications Grab on to each other Alter their physical properties, such as color Applications Telepresence Environment (safety, comfort, etc.)

SF novels about nanotechnology The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress Queen City Jazz by Kathleen Goonan Blood Music by Greg Bear The First Immortal by James Halperin