Nanotechnology: Basic concepts and definitions

Abstract

Molecular nanotechnology is an engineering discipline in which the goal is to build devices and structures that have every atom in the proper place. By means of this general purpose material-processing technology it will be possible to build almost any rigid, covalently bonded structure. Identical parts will be truly identical, enabling energy conversion and computation systems to have extremely high performance and reliability. Assembly will be done by mechanosynthesis, the process of holding two reactive molecules in contact with each other in a controlled orientation. Synthesis will be done on nanoscale assembly lines called molecular mills, where systems of moving belts will press individual molecules together and catalyze 106 reactions/s per station. High-performance mechanical computers will use moving rods to block the motion of other rods. The most important physical limit will be radiation damage. Without redundancy, a subsystem lasting 100 years will be limited to 106 nm3.