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Flexible loudspeakers through nanotechnology
Posted by Jim Lewis on December 2nd, 2008
To the list of the amazing properties of carbon nanotubes has been added the ability to make nanotech loudspeakers that produce sound without mechanical movement. From nanotechweb.org, written by James Tyrrell (requires free registration): “CNT loudspeaker rips up the design book“: A transparent carbon nanotube (CNT) thin film developed by Lin Xiao and colleagues at Tsinghua University, China, could turn out to be a wonder material for makers of audio visual devices. The see-through structure emits sound when hooked up to an electrical signal and can be stretched over a display to play audio content … eliminating the need for conventional loudspeakers or headphones. To emit sound, the device relies on the so-called thermoacoustic effect. In other words, it is the thermal expansion and contraction of air in the vicinity of the thin film (due to the periodic heating of the CNTs) that produces sound, not the mechanical movement of the thin film itself. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Lifestyle, Nanoscale Bulk Technologies, Asia Nanotechnology, Nanotechnology, Nanotech, Nano | No Comments »
Nanotechnology-based assay for cancer proteins increases sensitivity a thousand fold
Posted by Jim Lewis on December 1st, 2008
One group of researchers has developed a method to chemically coat single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) to produce a nanotech assay for trace levels of proteins associated with cancer that is a thousand fold more sensitive than are current assays. A second group developed a mathematical method to permit analysis of samples for several proteins at the same time. From the National Cancer Institute’s Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer “Carbon Nanotubes Improve Protein Array Detection Limits“: To detect cancer as early as possible, dozens of research groups are developing methods to detect trace levels of cancer-related proteins and genes in blood or other biological samples. Those efforts should get a boost thanks to new research results showing that carbon nanotubes can serve as incredibly sensitive optical labels for use in a wide variety of assay systems. Reporting its work in the journal Nature Biotechnology [abstract], a research team headed by Hongjie Dai, Ph.D., Stanford University and the Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence Focused on Therapeutic Response, describes a new type of coating developed specifically for attaching any number of different types of targeting agents to the surface of single-walled carbon nanotubes. This coating, a branched form of the biocompatible polymer poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), enabled the investigators to readily couple antibodies to carbon nanotubes. In the experiments reported in their current paper, the antibodies were designed to identify specific proteins immobilized on a standard protein array microchip. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Future Medicine, Nanoscale Bulk Technologies, Bionanotechnology, Nanobiotechnology, Nanotechnology, Nanotech, Nano, Nanomedicine, Foresight Nanotech Challenges, Health & longevity | No Comments »
Nanotechnology harnesses light for nanomechanical devices in integrated photonic circuits
Posted by Jim Lewis on November 28th, 2008
New nanotech applications may be made possible by the demonstration of a force generated from light that differs from the more familiar radiation pressure, and that is more versatile because it does not require a reflective surface. This force can be used to make light drive nanoscale machinery on a silicon chip. From Yale University, via AAAS EurekAlert “Harnessing light to drive nanomachines“ …a team led by researchers at the Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science has shown that the force of light indeed can be harnessed to drive machines — when the process is scaled to nano-proportions. Their work opens the door to a new class of semiconductor devices that are operated by the force of light. They envision a future where this process powers quantum information processing and sensing devices, as well as telecommunications that run at ultra-high speed and consume little power. The research, appearing in the November 27 issue of Nature [abstract], demonstrates a marriage of two emerging fields of research — nanophotonics and nanomechanics — which makes possible the extreme miniaturization of optics and mechanics on a silicon chip.… “While the force of light is far too weak for us to feel in everyday life, we have found that it can be harnessed and used at the nanoscale,” said team leader Hong Tang, assistant professor at Yale. “Our work demonstrates the advantage of using nano-objects as “targets” for the force of light — using devices that … match the size of today’s typical transistors.” Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Nanoscale Bulk Technologies, Research, Research, Nanotechnology, Nanotech, Nano | 1 Comment »
Nanotechnology researcher to receive Sackler Prize in Biophysics
Posted by Jim Lewis on November 27th, 2008
Dr. David Baker, who with Dr. Brian Kuhlman was awarded the 2004 Foresight Nanotech Institute Feynman Prize for Theory, will be one of three winners of the 2008 Raymond and Beverly Sackler International Prize in Biophysics. Dr. Baker has been featured on Nanodot posts this year for inviting online gamers to aid in protein design and for the design of protein catalysts for non-natural chemical reactions. From the University of Washington, via AAAS EurekAlert “Protein folding researcher David Baker to receive Sackler Prize in Biophysics“ Dr. David Baker, University of Washington (UW) professor of biochemistry and an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Research Institute, has been selected to receive the 2008 Raymond & Beverly Sackler International Prize in Biophysics, along with Dr. Martin Gruebele of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and Dr. Jonathan Weissman of the University of California, San Francisco. The field for this year’s prize was the physics of structure formation and self-assembly of proteins and nucleic acids. The award will be presented to the three scientists Dec. 15 at Israel’s Tel Aviv University.… Baker is being honored for his seminal contributions to computer-based studies of the manner and the speed in which chains of amino acids fold into protein molecules. Anyone who has tried to put together a cardboard box knows the importance of proper folding to get a useful product. The same is true when the body manufactures proteins. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Molecular Nanotechnology, Bionanotechnology, Nanobiotechnology, Nanotechnology, Nanotech, Nano, Computational nanotechnology | 1 Comment »
DARPA to fund development of ‘brain-like’ computers
Posted by Jim Lewis on November 26th, 2008
A new multi-disciplinary collaboration will focus on developing computing technology that mimics the human brain in being able to solve a wide variety of problems. One of the difficulties that the researchers will confront is making a nanoscale material that can mimic the synapses connecting neurons by forming connections that will get stronger or weaker depending on the signals passing through them. From “IBM plans ‘brain-like’ computers“, by BBC News science and technology reporter Jason Palmer: IBM has announced it will lead a US government-funded collaboration to make electronic circuits that mimic brains. Part of a field called “cognitive computing”, the research will bring together neurobiologists, computer and materials scientists and psychologists. As a first step in its research the project has been granted $4.9m (£3.27m) from US defence agency Darpa. The resulting technology could be used for large-scale data analysis, decision making or even image recognition. “The mind has an amazing ability to integrate ambiguous information across the senses, and it can effortlessly create the categories of time, space, object, and interrelationship from the sensory data,” says Dharmendra Modha, the IBM scientist who is heading the collaboration. “There are no computers that can even remotely approach the remarkable feats the mind performs,” he said. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Machine Intelligence, Nanoscale Bulk Technologies, Robotics/AI, Nanotechnology, Nanotech, Nano | No Comments »
New 4D microscope a revolutionary tool for nanotechnology
Posted by Jim Lewis on November 25th, 2008
A new microscope may facilitate nanotech developments by combining nanometer scale spatial resolution with temporal resolution in the millisecond to femtosecond range. ScienceDaily brings us this news release from Caltech: “Caltech 4D Microscope Revolutionizes the Way We Look at the Nano World“: More than a century ago, the development of the earliest motion picture technology made what had been previously thought “magical” a reality: capturing and recreating the movement and dynamism of the world around us. A breakthrough technology based on new concepts has now accomplished a similar feat, but on an atomic scale–by allowing, for the first time, the real-time, real-space visualization of fleeting changes in the structure and shape of matter barely a billionth of a meter in size. Such “movies” of atomic changes in materials of gold and graphite, obtained using the technique, are featured in a paper appearing in the November 21 issue of the journal Science [abstract]. (4D microscopy videos can be viewed at http://ust.caltech.edu/movie_gallery/.) A patent on the conceptual framework of this approach was granted to the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in 2006. The new technique, dubbed four-dimensional (4D) electron microscopy, was developed in the Physical Biology Center for Ultrafast Science and Technology, directed by Ahmed Zewail, the Linus Pauling Professor of Chemistry and professor of physics at Caltech, and winner of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Nanoscale Bulk Technologies, Research, Research, Nanotechnology, Nanotech, Nano | 1 Comment »
Prediction Markets Summit for 2009 announced
Posted by Jim Lewis on November 24th, 2008
A “Call for Participation” for the first post-US election Prediction Markets Summit and Collective Intelligence Conference of 2009 has been announced. “Prediction Markets Summit: Leading Collective Wisdom“, Friday, January 23 2009, 8:00am - 5:00pm, Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, California: What are Prediction Markets? Also known as information markets (PM), decision markets, idea futures, and virtual markets, prediction markets are speculative markets created for the purpose of making predictions. Assets are created whose final cash value is tied to a particular event, outcome or parameter (e.g., total sales next quarter). The current market prices can then be interpreted as predictions of the probability of the event or the expected value of the parameter. People who buy low and sell high are rewarded for improving the market prediction, while those who buy high and sell low are punished for degrading the market prediction. Evidence so far suggests that prediction markets are at least as accurate as other institutions predicting the same events with a similar pool of participants.… What are Collective Intelligence Networks? Collective Intelligence Networks (CIN) are an entirely new way to share, trade and aggregate information. They embrace complex social networks, collaboration and market dynamics to achieve fundamental increases in human capacity for learning, reasoning, understanding, aptitude and adaptation. CINs furnish a new capability infrastructure comprised of human relationships, diverse, far reaching information and markets, creating effective, fast-moving, and social information interchanges. This capability propels optimization and mastery of complex information and knowledge ecologies… —Jim
Posted in Open Source, Social Software, Memetics, New Institutions, Meetings & Conferences | 2 Comments »
Texas invests in nanotechnology for delivery of anti-cancer drug
Posted by Jim Lewis on November 21st, 2008
Earlier this year we reported on the work of Dr. Mauro Ferrari of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston on developing nanotech methods of drug delivery (see here and here). A startup company cofounded by Ferrari has now received a $3.5 million grant from the state of Texas to commercialize the nanotech delivery of a drug for cancer treatment. From the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, via AAAS EurekAlert “Texas invests record $3.5 million in startup cofounded by UT’s Mauro Ferrari“: NanoMedical Systems Inc., (NMS), an Austin-based startup cofounded by Mauro Ferrari, Ph.D., of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHSC-Houston), to improve the effectiveness of anti-cancer agents and other medications, has received a record $3.5 million Commercialization Award through the Texas Emerging Technology Fund (ETF). NMS was one of six companies that received the ETF awards, which were announced by Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Tuesday, Nov. 18. The grant will help accelerate the completion of engineering and pre-clinical testing for a device, which will allow for a controlled dose of medicine to be released into the bloodstream over many weeks or months. The device will be a safer, more reliable and less costly alternative to a long series of injections or clinical visits. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Future Medicine, Nanoscale Bulk Technologies, Government programs, Bionanotechnology, Nanobiotechnology, Nanotechnology, Nanotech, Nano, Nanomedicine, Foresight Nanotech Challenges, Health & longevity | 2 Comments »
Fast and precise control of AFM tips may enable nanotechnology memory devices
Posted by Jim Lewis on November 20th, 2008
Arrays of atomic force probe tips are promising nanotech approaches to denser, faster, cheaper memories (see this post from nine months ago). James Tyrrell of nanotechweb.org (requires free registration) explores the latest progress from the IBM “millipede project” and looks at what yet needs to be done. The researchers have completed a fully functional prototypes system and demonstrated. They have further demonstrated accurate control of tip position at a scanning speed three to four orders of magnitude faster than a typical scanning probe microscope, and the ability to write more than 108 indents at a density of 1 Tb per square inch with a single tip. From “Nanoindenter passes memory test“ Scanning probe-based data storage is back in the news as IBM researchers turn their attention to the thermo-mechanical indentation of polymer media at high patterning densities and fast transfer rates. Results published in the journal Nanotechnology [abstract] suggest that there could be more mileage in polymer systems than experts first thought and nanotechweb.org interviews Urs Dürig of IBM’s Zurich Research Laboratory, Switzerland, to find out more. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in MEMS, Nanoscale Bulk Technologies, European Nanotechnology, Molecular manufacturing, Nanotechnology, Nanotech, Nano, Foresight Nanotech Challenges, Information technology | 1 Comment »
Can nanotechnology sequence DNA by pulling single molecules through a slit in graphene?
Posted by Jim Lewis on November 19th, 2008
It has not been tested experimentally yet, but if a proposal to use graphene as a nanotech method to sequence DNA very rapidly and inexpensively pans out, the “wonder material” of nanotechnology could find yet another use. From nanotechweb.org, written by James Dacey (requires free registration) “Graphene could accelerate genomics“: The “wonder material” graphene could soon be used to analyse DNA at a record-breaking pace. That’s the claim of a physicist in the US who has proposed a new way of reading the sequence of chemical bases in a DNA strand by sending the molecule through a tiny slit in a graphene sheet. While the technique has yet to be verified experimentally, if successful it could be eligible for the $10 million X Prize for Genomics, which has set the challenge of developing a new rapid and low-cost sequencing technology. …Henk Postma at California State University Northridge has proposed a way of sequencing an entire DNA strand without the need for blasting or computer processing (arXiv:0810.3035). The technique involves cutting a very narrow slit or “nanogap” along the length of a piece of graphene — an extremely strong sheet of carbon just one atom thick. A voltage is applied perpendicular to the graphene’s surface, which causes the DNA strand to pass slowly through the slit one base at a time. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Genetic Science, Nanoscale Bulk Technologies, Nanotechnology, Nanotech, Nano | 2 Comments »
Toward molecular level data storage with nanotechnology
Posted by Jim Lewis on November 18th, 2008
Thanks to KurzweilAI.net and Next Big Future for this news item from the University of Nottingham. British scientists are investigating telescoping carbon nanotubes as a nanotech replacement for current computer memory technologies. From “Miniaturizing memory — taking data storage to the molecular level“: Current memory technologies fall into three separate groups: dynamic random access memory (DRAM), which is the cheapest method; static random access memory (SRAM), which is the fastest memory — but both DRAM and SRAM require an external power supply to retain data; and flash memory, which is non-volatile — it does not need a power supply to retain data, but has slower read-write cycles than DRAM. Carbon nanotubes — tubes made from rolled graphite sheets just one carbon atom thick — could provide the answer. If one nanotube sits inside another — slightly larger — one, the inner tube will ‘float’ within the outer, responding to electrostatic, van der Waals and capillary forces. Passing power through the nanotubes allows the inner tube to be pushed in and out of the outer tube. This telescoping action can either connect or disconnect the inner tube to an electrode, creating the ‘zero’ or ‘one’ states required to store information using binary code. When the power source is switched off, van der Waals force —which governs attraction between molecules — keeps the Inner tube in contact with the electrode. This makes the memory storage non-volatile, like Flash memory. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Nanoscale Bulk Technologies, Reviews, Reviews, European Nanotechnology, Nanotechnology, Nanotech, Nano, Foresight Nanotech Challenges, Information technology | 4 Comments »
Public approval for using nanotechnology for human enhancement limited to improving health
Posted by Jim Lewis on November 17th, 2008
Recently announced results of a US national survey on nanotech applications for “human enhancement” show widespread public support for enhancements seen as promising an improvement in human health, but little support for other uses. From North Carolina State University, via AAAS EurekAlert “Survey highlights support for nanotech in health fields but disapproval elsewhere“ A landmark national survey on the use of nanotechnology for “human enhancement” shows widespread public support for applications of the new technology related to improving human health. However, the survey also shows broad disapproval for nanotech human enhancement research in areas without health benefits. A team of researchers at North Carolina State University and Arizona State University (ASU) conducted the study, which could influence the direction of future nanotechnology research efforts. The “Public Awareness of Nanotechnology Study” is the first nationally representative survey to examine public opinion on the use of nanotechnology for human enhancement. The survey found significant support for enhancements that promise to improve human health. For example, 88 percent of participants were in favor of research for a video-to-brain link that would amount to artificial eyesight for the blind. However, there was little support for non-health research endeavors. For example, only 30 percent of participants approved of research into implants that could improve performance of soldiers on the battlefield. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Future Medicine, Ethics, Future Warfare, Public Involvement, Public participation, Nanotechnology, Nanotech, Nano, Nanomedicine, Military nanotechnology | 4 Comments »
Follow Convergence 08 on FastForward Radio
Posted by Jim Lewis on November 14th, 2008
If you are unable to attend the Convergence08 Unconference this weekend, you can follow some of the developments on FastForward Radio. Christine Peterson and Stephen Gordon pass along this information: This weekend The Speculist will be presenting not one, but two editions of FastForward Radio, both coming to you live from the Convergence 08 Unconference at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California.Saturday’s show starts at:8:30 Eastern/7:30 Central/6:30 Mountain/5:30 Pacific.Sunday’s show starts at:3:00 Eastern/2:00 Central/1:00 Mountain/Noon Pacific. Details are available at The Speculist.—Jim
Posted in Meetings & Conferences, Foresight News | No Comments »
UK report urges more tests of health and environmental effects of nanotechnology products
Posted by Jim Lewis on November 14th, 2008
Paul Marks of New Scientist reports on the release of a report by the UK Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution titled “Novel Materials in the Environment: The case of nanotechnology” (4.6 MB PDF). The report concludes that nanotech products are coming to market without adequate tests for safety based upon the unique properties of the nanomaterials. From Marks’ article “Is nanotechnology a health timebomb?“: Emerging nanomaterials need to undergo urgent testing to assess their effects on health and the environment, the UK’s Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution said in a report released this week. It says nanotechnology-based products are hitting the market without being properly assessed for safety - and that’s a risk too far. …The commission is calling for the European Union to extend its regulatory regime for chemicals (REACH) to properly assess nanomaterials and their unique properties. In the UK, they want the Department of the Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to develop and undertake tests on products that contain nanomaterials, and develop gadgets that detect, for instance, nanomaterials like carbon nanotubes when they become airborne. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Nanoscale Bulk Technologies, Biosphere, Environment, Health, and Safety, European Nanotechnology, Nanotech reports & publications, Nanotechnology, Nanotech, Nano | 1 Comment »
Nanotechnology art honors President-Elect Obama
Posted by Jim Lewis on November 13th, 2008
Today we have a nanotech nod to last week’s historic election for US President and an example of the artistic possibilities of nanotechnology, rather than news of scientific or technological advances. The New Scientist blog “Meet president Nanobama” links to a collection of 0.5 millimeter-wide line drawings of President-elect Obama, each made from about 150 million carbon nanotubes. Nanobama is part of John Hart’s nanobliss “gallery of visualizations of small-scale structures of carbon nanotubes and silicon”. The drawings are very definitely not atomically precise. Photolithography is used to pattern nanoparticle catalysts on a glass slide, and then forests of carbon nanotubes grow where the catalysts are present. —Jim
Posted in Nanoscale Bulk Technologies, Nanotechnology, Nanotech, Nano | No Comments »
Nanotechnology minimizes problems with medical implants
Posted by Jim Lewis on November 12th, 2008
Nanotech membranes made of nanoporous alumina coated with diamond-like carbon films promise to minimize problems with medical implants. From North Carolina State University, via AAAS EurekAlert “NC State finds new nanomaterial could be breakthrough for implantable medical devices“ A team of researchers led by North Carolina State University has made a breakthrough that could lead to new dialysis devices and a host of other revolutionary medical implants. The researchers have found that the unique properties of a new material can be used to create new devices that can be implanted into the human body — including blood glucose sensors for diabetics and artificial hemo-dialysis membranes that can scrub impurities from the blood. Researchers have long sought to develop medical devices that could be implanted into patients for a variety of purposes, such as monitoring glucose levels in diabetic patients. However, existing materials present significant problems. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Future Medicine, Nanoscale Bulk Technologies, Bionanotechnology, Nanobiotechnology, Nanotechnology, Nanotech, Nano, Nanomedicine, Foresight Nanotech Challenges, Health & longevity | No Comments »
Mass production method for nanotechnology wonder material
Posted by Jim Lewis on November 11th, 2008
The publication of a method to mass produce graphene has opened the way to further study of this remarkable nanomaterial, and to its eventual use in a number of nanotech applications. From the University of California - Los Angeles, via AAAS EurekAlert, “Researchers discover method for mass production of nanomaterial graphene“, written by Mike Rodewaldof the UCLA Newsroom: Graphene is a perfect example of the wonders of nanotechnology, in which common substances are scaled down to an atomic level to uncover new and exciting possibilities. Graphene is created when graphite — the mother form of all graphitic carbon, which is used to make the pigment that allows pencils to write on paper — is reduced down to a one-atom-thick sheet. Graphene is among the strongest materials known and has an attractive array of benefits. These sheets —single-layer graphene — have potential as electrodes for solar cells, for use in sensors, as the anode electrode material in lithium batteries and as efficient zero-band-gap semiconductors. Research on graphene sheets has been restricted, though, due to the difficulty of creating single-layer samples for use in experiments. But in a study published online Nov. 9 in the journal Nature Nanotechnology [abstract], researchers from UCLA’s California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) propose a method which can produce graphene sheets in large quantities. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Nanoscale Bulk Technologies, Nanotechnology, Nanotech, Nano, Energy, Foresight Nanotech Challenges, Clean energy, Information technology | No Comments »
Using nanotechnology to build backpacks for cells
Posted by Jim Lewis on November 10th, 2008
A patch consisting of three layers of polymers can be loaded with nanoparticles and attached to living cells to give them nanotech backpacks that could be useful for carrying chemotherapy and imaging agents to tumors, or to align cells in certain patterns for tissue engineering. From “Scientists create tiny backpacks for cells” written by Anne Trafton, MIT News Office (found via PhysOrg.com/a>): MIT engineers have outfitted cells with tiny “backpacks” that could allow them to deliver chemotherapy agents, diagnose tumors or become building blocks for tissue engineering. Michael Rubner, director of MIT’s Center for Materials Science and Engineering and senior author of a paper on the work that appeared online in Nano Letters [abstract], said he believes this is the first time anyone has attached such a synthetic patch to a cell. The polymer backpacks allow researchers to use cells to ferry tiny cargoes and manipulate their movements using magnetic fields. Since each patch covers only a small portion of the cell surface, it does not interfere with the cell’s normal functions or prevent it from interacting with the external environment. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Future Medicine, Nanoscale Bulk Technologies, Bionanotechnology, Nanobiotechnology, Nanotechnology, Nanotech, Nano, Nanomedicine, Foresight Nanotech Challenges, Health & longevity | No Comments »
DNA nanotechnology provides an improved tweezers
Posted by Jim Lewis on November 7th, 2008
Re-engineering a simple nanotech device to make it more functional, Chinese scientists have developed an improved DNA tweezers that is able to capture, hold, and release a target molecule in a controlled manner. To do so, they took advantage of an alternative type of DNA base pair that allows a third strand of DNA to bind to a DNA double helix to form triple strand DNA under certain conditions. From a Nanowerk Spotlight, written by Michael Berger “The gripping potential of DNA nanotechnology“: The exciting potential applications for DNA tweezers include their use in constructing various molecular devices dedicated to repairing a functional unit in a cell, harnessing the delivery of drug molecules to pathogenic cells, or assembling nanoscale devices. There have been several earlier versions of similar DNA devices that can be operated to have open and close actions but it still has been a challenge to make them behave like real tweezers that can be handled to grasp and transfer an object. A team of Chinese scientists has now demonstrated a very simple design to fabricate a close-to-reality ‘grasp’ and ‘release’ function for a pair of DNA tweezers. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Molecular Nanotechnology, Research, Research, Bionanotechnology, Productive Nanosystems, Artificial Molecular Machines, Asia Nanotechnology, Nanobiotechnology, Molecular manufacturing, Nanotechnology Roadmaps, Nanotechnology, Nanotech, Nano | No Comments »
Mechanosynthesis with AFM as a step toward advanced nanotechnology
Posted by Jim Lewis on November 6th, 2008
Robert A. Freitas Jr. brings to our attention a major step on the road to advanced nanotech, published a couple weeks ago in Science (abstract). He writes: This paper reports purely mechanical-based covalent bond-making and bond-breaking (true mechanosynthesis) involving atom by atom substitution of silicon (Si) atoms for tin (Sn) atoms in an Sn monolayer surface on a Si(111) surface; also demonstrates atomically precise exchange of lead (Pb) and indium (In) on Si(111) surface. This is the first report of a complex pattern being drawn on a 2D surface, literally atom by atom, purely via mechanical forces. Working on a single atomic layer of tin atoms grown on a single-crystal silicon surface, the Japanese-European collaboration maneuvered an atomic force microscope (AFM) tip precisely (plus or minus 0.01 nm) over a single silicon atom defect in the tin surface, and were able to reversibly exchange a tin atom on the apex of the tip and the silicon atom on the surface. These experiments were done at room temperature and, unlike earlier demonstrations in which a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) tip was used to interchange atoms weakly bond to a metallic surface through use of an electrical bias, this demonstration used mechanical force to interchange strongly bound atoms. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Molecular Nanotechnology, Research, Research, Productive Nanosystems, Asia Nanotechnology, European Nanotechnology, Molecular manufacturing, Nanotechnology Roadmaps, Nanotechnology, Nanotech, Nano, Computational nanotechnology, Foresight Nanotech Challenges, Information technology | 6 Comments »
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