Stuart Scott writes "Phaedon Avouris has a good overview of future electronic applications of nanotubes published in IEEE Spectrum. http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/WEBONLY/publicfeature /aug04/0804tube.html"
Ed. Note: We realize this is a bit dated but the information and references are still valid.
It would appear to be the case that scientists have managed to use Manganese to create magnetic silicon. This offers some interesting future paths with respect to data storage as well as "spintronics". The referencing article is here.
If this can be pushed to the limits then one can imagine a manganese atom within a silicon matrix whose spin state can be regulated. This might result in a memory storage device even more capable than that proposed by Drexler (e.g. Nanosystems Sec. 12.6.4). In part because there is a lot more Mn in the universe than F and so one simply has more memory storage capacity given the materials we have to work with.
As we have mentioned previously EurekAlert/AAAS is having monthly chats about nanotechnology. The complete chat log for this month can be found here (though I expect the location may change over the next month). It was an interesting discussion from the perspective of pointing out the mindset of current "nanotechnology" researchers. I suspect the moderator may have been overwhelmed with incoming questions but the following is interesting…
I posted two questions directly comparing biological assemblers with a Drexler type assemblers (I even cited a Science article [Science is published by AAAS] in one of the questions). So I'm rather amazed that they did not make it into the discussion. I had also posted multiple questions regarding whether the people on the panel had ever read Nanosystems or any of the Nanomedicine volumes. None of those appear to have made the cut to be presented to the panel.
In their nanotech definition, Brookhaven College explains: "The laws of physics, chemistry, and biology are no longer applicable to nanoscale structures… Brookhaven College, in partnership with Rice University is helping to educate teachers and the public about this emerging field." Having those laws no longer work is going to make design work much trickier. (grin)
Roland Piquepaille writes "In order to build ever smaller electronic circuits, the semiconductor industry will have some day to move from current lithography technologies to something different, such as molecular electronics. This new process is pioneered by a group of engineers at Northwestern University. They are using a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) to precisely align multiple types of molecules on a silicon surface at room temperature. Their nanofabrication process will soon lead to molecular transistors or light-emitting diodes. As this new process works at room temperature, this means it is possible to integrate it with current technologies. Putting it in another way, in some future, we'll still be able to look at the screens of our computers, but we'll not see the chips inside, even with a home microscope. Read more for more details and great pictures."
Ed. Note. I'm not sure they are going to be able to build "molecular transistors" out of the molecules they are using (styrene and TEMPO). I believe TEMPO is a spin trap so it might have some interesting electrical properties. But viable electronics applications are probably some distance into the future. On top of that there is no parallelism in STMs. One isn't going to get 50 million transistor chips anytime soon with a single tip STM.
BuffYoda writes "BERKELEY, CA — "Another important step towards realizing the promise of lightning fast photonic technology has been taken by scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California at Berkeley. Researchers have demonstrated that semiconductor nanoribbons, single crystals measuring tens of hundreds of microns in length, but only a few hundred or less nanometers in width and thickness (about one ten-millionth of an inch), can serve as 'waveguides' for channeling and directing the movement of light through circuitry." An interesting (though by no means unexpected or revolutionary) development in photonics, a field I consider to be of great importance to the development of extremely fast computers (this route seems to be a lot closer than the alternatives)."
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David Bradley Science Writer writes "Chemists at Oxford University are on the verge of commercialising carbon nanotube technology according to the Reactive Reports chemistry news source. They have developed patented techniques for sorting and purifying nanotubes and are working with Oxford U's technology transfer wing, Isis Innovation, to bring the materials to market."
Anonymous Coward writes "The Southern California Linux Expo has announced plans to host a panel discussion on the future of open source and voice over IP technologies at SCALE 3x. SCALE 3x, the Third Annual Southern California Linux Expo is the premier grass roots Linux and Open Source conference." More…
molecool writes "Daily Science News reports that researchers at the NanoTech Institute at The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) have been awarded a $750,000, 20-month grant to develop artificial muscles that convert chemical energy to mechanical energy. The award was made by the United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), whose charter is to develop new technologies for military applications. Well, DARPA was instrumental in creating the early Internet over 30 years ago, which evolved into what we all have come to take for granted for the last decade or so. Maybe we will take artifical muscles for granted 30 years from now?"
Ed. Note: I wonder if these are a first step towards Asimov's I Robot?
