Nanosystems: Molecular Machinery, Manufacturing, and Computation

Written by a leading researcher in the field and one of its founders, Nanosystems is the first technical introduction to molecular nanotechnology - an emerging field that has sparked increasing interest and controversy. This groundbreaking book describes fundamental physical principles, components and devices, then examines applications including computers of unprecedented power and manufacturing systems able to build such products molecule by molecule. Nanosystems presents a comprehensive overview of how molecular manufacturing will make products by using nanoscale (billionths of a meter) mechanical and robotic technologies to guide the placement of molecules and atoms. Working with these fundamental building blocks of matter will enable designers to approach the limits of the possible: to build the smallest devices, the fastest computers, the strongest materials, and the highest quality products. By manipulating common molecules at high frequency, molecular manufacturing will make these products quickly, inexpensively, and on a large scale. Molecular manufacturing is the key to implementing molecular nanotechnologies, building systems to complex atomic specifications. This landmark work first presents the basic principles of physics and chemistry required to understand molecular machines. Then, Dr. Drexler describes computational models of molecules as mechanical systems, the effects of statistical mechanics, quantum uncertainty, damage mechanisms, and energy dissipation, and the fundamentals of mechanosynthesis - the use of mechanical devices to guide molecular reactions. Nanosystems then applies the analytical tools and concepts developed in the first section to the design ofnanomechanical components, devices, and systems. It describes nanomechanical gears, bearings, motors, sensors, logic gates, submicron 1000 MIPS computers (consuming 10(superscript -8) times as much power as comparable computers today), and systems able to join simple molecules to build complex products. The last section discusses how chemical, biochemical, and proximal probe technologies can be used to build complex molecular objects and how this capability can be used to implement molecular manufacturing. Bringing together physics, chemistry, mechanical engineering, and computer science, Nanosystems provides an indispensable introduction to the emerging field of molecular nanotechnology.