Slides with annotations from a computer-science oriented keynote:
Advanced Nanotechnology Advanced Computing on the Critical Path K. Eric Drexler, PhD
Las Vegas 13 July 2009 © 2009 K. Eric Drexler. Not for reproduction. For lectures and permissions, contact:
[email protected] © 2009 K. Eric Drexler
Two kinds of nanotechnology Solving the circuit board problem Toward atomically precise manufacturing Revolutionary advances The way forward
© 2009 K. Eric Drexler
1
What is ‘nanotechnology’? Nanotechnology today: Products that have a significant dimension less than 1/10 micron (= 100 nanometers) — mostly materials, some devices, a lot of nanoscience
A future, revolutionary nanotechnology: Nanoscale machines building products with atomic precision and digital control — Productive nanosystems, a technology leading to high-throughput atomically precise manufacturing
© 2009 K. Eric Drexler
The technology roadmap project: Hosts: Oak Ridge Brookhaven Pacific Northwest Leadership: Battelle Memorial Institute
© 2009 K. Eric Drexler
2
Organized by: Sponsors:
Hosting National Labs:
Roadmap partners:
© 2009 K. Eric Drexler
Productive nanosystems: Capabilities, products, and applications Levels of Productive Capability Control of monomer sequence in a chain Control of monomer positions in a solid Control of atomic positions
Applications
Atomically Precise Products
advanced materials water purification clean energy filters binders for directed production smart therapeutic fuel cell self assembly devices clean membranes polymeric water molecular thin, flexible nanoparticles petabyte RAM electronic solar cell arrays improved ceramic chips devices health care nanoparticles programmable cell improved superstrong repair systems semiconductor computation smart materials devices
in a solid
designer catalysts
superstrong fibers molecular machines
engineered membranes
productive nanosystems
nanoelectric circuits aerospace composites
improved transportation
© 2009 K. Eric Drexler
3
Two kinds of nanotechnology Solving the circuit board problem Toward atomically precise manufacturing Revolutionary advances The way forward
© 2009 K. Eric Drexler
Specialized functional structures
Porphyrins
electronic, chemical, biological, structural, electronic, optical, optoelectronic, electromechanical, electrochemical...
Nanotube segments
Metal complexes Metal-oxide clusters
Quantum dots © 2009 K. Eric Drexler
4
What we have: components
Missing pieces: sockets & circuit boards © 2009 K. Eric Drexler
Framework-directed molecular self-assembly:
Combine components to build systems: ‒ 3D atomically precise scaffolds, easily re-configured ‒ 100s to 1000s of parts in addressable locations © 2009 K. Eric Drexler
5
Protein ! meat! Young’s modulus of several biomolecular and inorganic materials:
Young’s modulus (GPa) Mechanical stiffness is a key parameter for molecular machinery
© 2009 K. Eric Drexler
Atomically precise, million-atom scale structures; Can design and make a trillion in one day
Rothemund P.W.K., “Folding DNA to create nanoscale shapes and patterns.” Nature, 440:297–302 (2006). © 2009 K. Eric Drexler
6
Structural DNA nanotechnology: Design of ‘DNA origami’
Mark Sims, design using Nanoengineer-1 (2007)
© 2009 K. Eric Drexler
Design software for structural DNA nanotechnology
NanoEngineer-1 © 2009 K. Eric Drexler
7
Backbone structure of a novel protein design (experimental result superimposed)
“Design of a Novel Globular Protein Fold with Atomic-Level Accuracy”, B Kuhlman et al., Science 302:1364–68 (2003) © 2009 K. Eric Drexler
RosettaDesign server for protein design (a search problem)
www.rosettadesign.med.unc.edu
Liu and Kuhlman, “RosettaDesign server for protein design” Nucleic Acids Res 34:W235–W238 (2006) © 2009 K. Eric Drexler
8
Zinc fingers: a DNA/protein interface technology
Zinc finger protein (blue) binding DNA (orange)
© 2009 K. Eric Drexler
A server for zinc-finger protein design
Zinc Finger Consortium, www.zincfingers.org
© 2009 K. Eric Drexler
9
Framework-directed assembly revisited:
© 2009 K. Eric Drexler
Two kinds of nanotechnology Solving the circuit board problem Toward atomically precise manufacturing Revolutionary advances The way forward
© 2009 K. Eric Drexler
10
A natural producive nanosystem, the ribosome, builds polymers that can fold to make devices, including machines:
Ribosome: a ~25 nm productive nanosystem Composition: protein + RNA (much like DNA)
© 2009 K. Eric Drexler
Higher-performance materials can be synthesized from small building blocks; advanced productive nanosystems could fabricate more complex structures. Some crystalline structures (metal-organic frameworks) assembled from synthetic building blocks under mild conditions
“Structural representations of (A) COF-1 and (B) COF-5 based on powder diffraction and modelling projected along their c axes (H atoms are omitted)” A. P. Côté et al., Science, 310:1166 -1170 (2005) Published by AAAS
© 2009 K. Eric Drexler
11
A very high performance material synthesized from small building blocks again, advanced productive nanosystems could fabricate more complex structures.
A 222-carbon graphite sheet made by solution-phase chemical synthesis
“Synthesis of a giant 222 carbon graphite sheet” Simpson CD, et al. Chem.-Eur.J., 8(6):1424-9 (2002).
© 2009 K. Eric Drexler
Structures made of advanced materials can implement the full range of familiar mechanical components, and complex (but modular!) mechanical systems.
Molecular machinery: Gears and bearings on a nanometer scale
— These devices can be simulated, but not yet built — Molecular dynamics by NanoEngineer-1 © 2009 K. Eric Drexler
12
Mechanical systems guide molecular motion to build specific structures; ribosomes use this principle; factory-style systems can eventually do likewise.
John Burch
Machine-phase chemistry
“Design and Analysis of a Molecular Tool for Carbon Transfer in Mechanosynthesis.” DG Allis, KE Drexler, J Comp Theo Nanosci, 2:45–55 (2005). © 2009 K. Eric Drexler
This line of development leads to arrays of productive nanosystems that can make parts that can be combined to make macro-scale products.
Doubling sizes by convergent assembly
Design and rendering by John Burch © 2009 K. Eric Drexler
13
With suitable components and designs, conventional mechanical engineering principles can be applied at any scale above a few nanometers.
Convergent assembly processes scale to industrial size
© 2009 K. Eric Drexler
The nature of the technology — Precise:
atomic control
Digital:
processes atoms like bits*
Fast:
millions of cycles per second
Clean:
control of product and waste
Efficient:
low energy and resource needs
Productive:
high throughput per unit mass
* Discrete units, discrete operations, error margins, low error rates
© 2009 K. Eric Drexler
14
Two kinds of nanotechnology Solving the circuit board problem Toward atomically precise manufacturing Revolutionary advances The way forward
© 2009 K. Eric Drexler
First analogy: The Industrial Revolution
Displaced almost all other physical production methods © 2009 K. Eric Drexler
15
Second analogy: The Digital Revolution
Displaced almost all other information-processing methods © 2009 K. Eric Drexler
Physical and digital """combined:
© 2009 K. Eric Drexler
16
Moore’s law…
Billion-processor systems
Transistors per chip
© 2009 K. Eric Drexler
IBM Blue Gene supercomputer
280 teraflops, 5 megawatts, 100 tons, $350 million
© 2009 K. Eric Drexler
17
Billion-CPU laptop computer
1,000 times speed, 1/100,000 power, 1/1,000,000 weight, 1/100,000,000 cost
© 2009 K. Eric Drexler
Aluminum structure, costly fabrication
70 tons, $2 billion (and unreliable)
© 2009 K. Eric Drexler
18
Carbon structure, low-cost fabrication
1/20 times weight, 1/100,000 cost (and reliable)
© 2009 K. Eric Drexler
Crystalline silicon photovoltaic array
Fragile cells, rigid mounting ~ $1,000/m2
© 2009 K. Eric Drexler
19
Nanostructured photovoltaic surfacing
Thin, adherent, tough, abrasion resistant ~ 0.1 kg/m2 => ~ $0.10/m2
© 2009 K. Eric Drexler
Two kinds of nanotechnology Solving the circuit board problem Toward atomically precise manufacturing Revolutionary advances The way forward
© 2009 K. Eric Drexler
20
What has limited progress? • No systems engineering tradition in sciences needed for developing molecular systems engineering • A peculiar political backlash, which peaked in 2001, that equated manufacturing with scary nanobugs • A too-nearly-exclusive emphasis on understanding and imitating biology (leads to feathered aircraft) — These cultural and political problems have delayed development of a system-building technology
© 2009 K. Eric Drexler
Fundamental differences between inquiry and design can engender confusion about both objectives and implementation Scientific inquiry (research) abstract model (theory)
abstract model (concept)
concrete compare ! description
= ! design
(data)
concrete description
measure !
= ! make
(spec)
physical system
physical system
Engineering design (development) © 2009 K. Eric Drexler
21
The fundamental differences between inquiry and design can engender contrasting responses to similar concerns
Responses to concerns In science:
In engineering:
Invites study
Discourages use
Informative
Problematic
Defective
Often adequate
Dynamical trajectory:
Initial conditions
Control inputs
Dynamical uncertainty:
Grows with time
Limited by control
Less tractable
More capable
Topic premature
Need more teams
Broad exploration
Poor coordination
Concerns Unknown property: Unexpected outcome: Inaccurate models:
More complex: Multiple problems: Independent teams:
© 2009 K. Eric Drexler
What do we need? • Science-intensive engineering — not science instead of engineering • Components and design rules for engineering systems with an increasing range of functions • A focus on developing tools for building better tools • Better software to support nanosystems engineering
© 2009 K. Eric Drexler
22
What software capabilities do we need? • Multi-scale, multi-material physical simulation • Integration of specification, search, and modeling • Tools for manipulation and multiple visualizations • Loose integration of existing research software, tight integration of extended tool sets • An open database of component and process descriptions, organized to support design • A robust, open-source architecture for all the above, organized to support design workflows
© 2009 K. Eric Drexler
For more information Blog:
metamodern.com
Website:
ericdrexler.com
Roadmap:
productivenanosystems.org/roadmap
© 2009 K. Eric Drexler
23