Mechanosynthesis is a new chemical synthesis technique that uses molecular mechanical systems to bind molecules or atoms together in an orderly way, avoiding unwanted reactions and increasing yield. Rudimentary mechanosynthesis has been demonstrated with silicon and xenon atoms, but to be useful for practical products, it would need to be done in a massively parallel fashion using carbon. Self-replicating and generic manipulators, called molecular assemblers, could allow for the creation of kilogram quantities of products built with each atom in a predetermined location, resulting in performance increases of several orders of magnitude. This futuristic manufacturing methodology is called molecular nanotechnology or molecular manufacturing.
In chemosynthesis, the traditional (and ubiquitous in nature) method of initiating chemical reactions, many millions or more of the reactant molecules are combined into a liquid or vapor, allowing them to collide randomly through thermal motion until a sufficient amount of the reaction products desired are produced. In contrast, in mechanosynthesis, an advanced chemical synthesis technique still under development, molecular mechanical systems operating under programmed instructions would bring a single molecule or atom together with another, binding them together in a direct and orderly way. By using this method, unwanted reactions could be avoided and the reaction yield could be increased considerably.
Rudimentary mechanosynthesis has already been demonstrated with silicon in 2003, by Oyabu et al. Using a tunneling microscope (STM), Oyabu and his collaborators used mechanical force alone to make and break covalent atomic bonds. This feat was performed at cryogenic temperatures in a vacuum environment. Earlier, in 1988, IBM researchers wrote the letters “IBM” with xenon atoms on a copper surface. This was not true mechanosynthesis, but it demonstrated the feasibility of manipulating single atoms with an STM, a microscope with a monatomic tip. In principle, it is possible to manipulate single molecules with an STM tip, although automating the process has been difficult.
For mechanosynthesis to be anything other than a scientific curiosity and to be useful for building practical products, it would have to be done in a massively parallel fashion, using more flexible building blocks like carbon. To build the required number of atomic-scale manipulators for mechanosynthesis processing systems, self-replicating and generic manipulators would be highly desirable. Such a device was called a molecular assembler after the scientist who originally conceived it, Dr. Eric Drexler. Drexler published a popular exposition on the subject in 1986, Engines of Creation, followed by the more technical Nanosystems in 1992, which outlined a range of molecular machines that exploit mechanosynthetic processes.
If a self-replicating assembler based on carbon mechanosynthesis could be developed, the exponential growth from self-replication could allow for the creation of kilogram quantities in a few dozen rounds of replication, even if the molecular assemblers themselves weigh only a few picograms. Thus, assemblers could be directed to cooperate in building macro-scale products such as computers, power tools and automobiles.
Taking advantage of precisely oriented atom-level construction, these products could be built with each atom in a predetermined location. This would allow for performance increases of several orders of magnitude in several areas, such as the power density of engines and the miniaturization of processing elements. By comparison, our current machinery is built with relatively crude processes and tends to be relatively disorganized at the atomic level. This futuristic manufacturing methodology has been referred to as molecular nanotechnology or molecular manufacturing.
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