[tt] NIST Warms Up to Drexlerian Nanotechnology

[Brian Atkins]

http://www.acceleratingfuture.com/michael/blog/?p=742

Press release from Eurekalert:

Are nanobots on their way?

US researchers have built a proto-prototype nano assembler

The first real steps towards building a microscopic device that can construct 
nano machines have been taken by US researchers. Writing in the peer-reviewed 
publication, International Journal of Nanomanufacturing from Inderscience 
Publishers, researchers describe an early prototype for a nanoassembler.

In his 1986 book, The Engines of Creation, K Eric Drexler set down the long-term 
aim of nanotechnology - to create an assembler, a microscopic device, a robot, 
that could construct yet smaller devices from individual atoms and molecules.

For the last two decades, those researchers who recognized the potential have 
taken diminutive steps towards such a nanoassembler. Those taking the top-down 
approach have seen the manipulative power of the atomic force microscope (AFM), 
a machine that can observe and handle single atoms, as one solution. Those 
taking the bottom-up approach are using chemistry to build molecular machinery.

However, neither the top-down nor the bottom-up approach is yet to fulfill 
Drexler’s prophecy of functional nanobots that can construct other machines on a 
scale of just a few billionths of a meter.

Jason Gorman of the Intelligent Systems Division at the US government’s National 
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) concedes that, “Nanoassembly is 
extremely challenging.” Yet the rewards could be enormous with the ultimate 
potential of creating a technology that can construct almost any material from 
atoms and molecules from super-strong but incredibly lightweight construction 
materials to a molecular computer or even nanobots that can make other nanobots 
to solve global problems, such as food, water, and energy shortages.

Gorman and his colleagues at NIST have taken a novel approach to building a 
nanoassembler and reveal details in a forthcoming issue of the International 
Journal of Nanomanufacturing. “Our demonstration is still a work in progress,” 
says Gorman, “you might describe it as a ‘proto-prototype’ for a nanoassembler.”

AFM is the most commonly employed approach for top-down nanomanipulation 
research, explains Gorman. However, AFM suffers from a number limitations, as 
the nanoparticles stick together during manipulation and cannot be lifted from 
the substrate. This means that nanodevices constructed using AFM may be 
aesthetically pleasing and provide insights into what might be achievable but it 
cannot build practical nano machines.

The NIST system consists of four Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) devices 
positioned around a centrally located port on a chip into which the starting 
materials can be placed Each nanomanipulator is composed of positioning 
mechanism with an attached nanoprobe. By simultaneously controlling the position 
of each of these nanoprobes, the team can use them to cooperatively assemble a 
complex structure on a very small scale. “If successful, this project will 
result in an on-chip nanomanufacturing system that would be the first of its 
kind,” says Gorman.

“Our micro-scale nanoassembly system is designed for real-time imaging of the 
nanomanipulation procedures using a scanning electron microscope,” explains 
Gorman, “and multiple nanoprobes can be used to grasp nanostructures in a 
cooperative manner to enable complex assembly operations.” Importantly, once the 
team has optimized their design they anticipate that nanoassembly systems could 
be made for around $400 per chip at present costs. This is thousands of times 
cheaper than macro-scale systems such as the AFM.

Gorman points out that it should be possible to have multiple nanoassemblers 
working simultaneously to manufacture next generation nanoelectronics. At the 
moment, his team is interested in developing the platform for scientists and 
engineers to make cutting edge discoveries in nanotechnology. “Very few 
effective tools exist for manipulation and assembly at the nano-scale, thereby 
limiting the growth of this critical field,” he says.

“The work described in the IJNM paper is somewhat preliminary and focuses on the 
design and characterization of the micro-scale nanomanipulator sub-components,” 
adds Gorman, “We are currently fabricating a somewhat revised micro-scale 
nanoassembly system that we believe will be capable of manipulating 
nanoparticles by the end of the summer,” Gorman says, “We will publishing those 
results once they are available.”

###

Gorman’s work appears in detail in a forthcoming issue of the International 
Journal of Nanomanufacturing - “Design of an on-chip microscale nanoassembly 
system”, Vol 1, Issue 6, pp 710-721

Source: Inderscience Publishers

The US is now pursuing molecular nanotechnology, but what about our friends 
overseas, the UK? - M

-- 
Brian Atkins
Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence
http://www.singinst.org/