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

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

3. 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

4. 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….

5. 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

6. 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 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://www.zyvex.com/nanotech/feynman.html

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

8. Zyvex 8 Three historical trends in manufacturing More flexible More precise Less expensive

9. 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

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

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

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

13. Zyvex 13 The goal: a healthy bite..

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

15. Zyvex 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

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

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

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

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

20. Zyvex 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://www.zyvex.com/nanotech/selfRepNASA.html

21. 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

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

23. Zyvex 23 C program 800 Von Neumann's universal constructor500,000 Internet worm (Robert Morris, Jr., 1988)500,000 Mycoplasma capricolum1,600,000 E. Coli9,278,442 Drexler's assembler100,000,000 Human6,400,000,000 NASA Lunar Manufacturing Facilityover 100,000,000,000 http://www.zyvex.com/nanotech/selfRep.html Complexity of self replicating systems (bits)

24. 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)

25. 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

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

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

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

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

30. Zyvex 30 Buckytubes (Tough, well defined)

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

32. 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.

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

34. Zyvex 34 Diamond Physical Properties PropertyDiamond’s valueComments Chemical reactivityExtremely low Hardness (kg/mm2)9000CBN: 4500 SiC: 4000 Thermal conductivity (W/cm-K)20Ag: 4.3 Cu: 4.0 Tensile strength (pascals)3.5 x 10 9 (natural)10 11 (theoretical) Compressive strength (pascals)10 11 (natural)5 x 10 11 (theoretical) Band gap (ev)5.5Si: 1.1 GaAs: 1.4 Resistivity (W-cm)10 16 (natural) Density (gm/cm3)3.51 Thermal Expansion Coeff (K-1)0.8 x 10-6SiO2: 0.5 x 10-6 Refractive index2.41 @ 590 nmGlass: 1.4 - 1.8 Coeff. of Friction0.05 (dry)Teflon: 0.05 Source: Crystallume

35. 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

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

37. Zyvex 37 Neon pump

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

39. Zyvex 39 A proposal for a molecular positional device

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

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

42. 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.

43. Zyvex 43 Synthesis of diamond today: diamond CVD 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.

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

45. Zyvex 45 Some other molecular tools

46. 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

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

48. 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 10 21 bits in the same volume Or more than a billion Pentiums operating in parallel Powerful enough to run Windows 2015

49. Zyvex 49 Memory probe

50. 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

51. Zyvex 51 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 1,000 or more http://science.nas.nasa.gov/Groups/ Nanotechnology/publications/1997/applications/

52. Zyvex 52 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)

53. Zyvex 53 Swallowing the surgeon...it would be interesting in surgery if you could swallow the surgeon. You put the mechanical surgeon inside the blood vessel and it goes into the heart and “looks” around.... Other small machines might be permanently incorporated in the body to assist some inadequately-functioning organ. Richard P. Feynman, 1959 Nobel Prize for Physics, 1965

54. Zyvex 54 Nanomedicine Volume I By Robert Freitas Surveys medical applications of nanotechnology Extensive technical analysis Volume I (of three) published in 1999 http://www.foresight.org/Nanomedicine

55. Zyvex 55 Mitochondrion 20 nm scale bar Ribosome Molecular computer (4-bit) + peripherals Molecular bearing

56. Zyvex 56 “Typical” cell Mitochondrion Molecular computer + peripherals

57. Zyvex 57 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://www.foresight.org/Nanomedicine

58. Zyvex 58 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.

59. Zyvex 59 Medical applications Killing cancer cells, bacteria Removing blockages Providing oxygen (artificial red blood cell) Adjusting other metabolites

60. Zyvex 60 A revolution in medicine Today, loss of cell function results in cellular deterioration: function must be preserved With medical nanodevices, passive structures can be repaired. Cell function can be restored provided cell structure can be inferred: structure must be preserved

61. Zyvex 61 Cryonics 37 º C -196 º C (77 Kelvins) Freeze Restore to health Time Temperature (many decades)

62. Zyvex 62 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?

63. Zyvex 63 Would you rather join: The control group? (no action required) or The experimental group? (see www.alcor.org for info)

64. Zyvex 64 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 November 9, 1995 http://www.zyvex.com/nanotech/nano4/jeremiahPaper.html

65. Zyvex 65 Human impact on the environment depends on Population Living standards Technology

66. Zyvex 66 Restoring the environment with nanotechnology Low cost greenhouse agriculture Low cost solar power Pollution free manufacturing The ultimate in recycling

67. Zyvex 67 Solar power and nanotechnology The sunshine reaching the earth has almost 40,000 times more power than total world usage. Nanotechnology will produce efficient, rugged solar cells and batteries at low cost. Power costs will drop dramatically

68. Zyvex 68 Environmentally friendly manufacturing Today’s manufacturing plants pollute because they use imprecise methods. Nanotechnology 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

69. Zyvex 69 Nanotechnology offers... possibilities for health, wealth, and capabilities beyond most past imaginings. K. Eric Drexler

70. Zyvex 70 The best way to predict the future is to invent it. Alan Kay