There’s Plenty of Room at the BottomAn Invitation to Enter a New Field of Physics

Richard Feynman

1959

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Outline

• Introduction• How do we write small?• Information on a small scale• Better electron microscopes• The marvelous biological system• Miniaturizing the computer• Miniaturization by evaporation• Problems of lubrication• 100 tiny hands• Rearranging the atoms• Atoms in a small world• Feynman Prizes

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Introduction

In 1959, Feynman observed:

• Nobody studied applied physics of the

very small

• No theoretical knowledge seemed likely to

result.

• Practical applications seemed enormous.

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Introduction …

“Why cannot we write the entire 24 volumes of the Encyclopedia Brittanica on the head of a pin?”– A pin’s diameter = 1/16 inch.– Magnify by 25,000:

• 25,000 / 16 = 130.2 feet.• It’s area = 13,314 square feet• This is enough to fit the Brittanica.• It thus suffices to shrink it to 1/25,000.

– At that scale, 1 half-tone dot = 32*32 atoms.– This is big enough to work.

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Introduction …

Such a miniaturization is readable.• Make a temporary copy of mold

1. Press the pin’s head into plastic; peel off plastic;

• Construct a copy of mold1. Evaporate silica into the plastic

2. Evaporate gold at an angle (only raised parts coated);

3. Dissolve plastic, leaving only silica & gold.

• Read the copy1. Look thru this “cloth” with an electron microscope.

Original mold (pin) is reusable.

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Gold deposition

1.

2.

Angle of deposition

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Outline

• Introduction• How do we write small?• Information on a small scale• Better electron microscopes• The marvelous biological system• Miniaturizing the computer• Miniaturization by evaporation• Problems of lubrication• 100 tiny hands• Rearranging the atoms• Atoms in a small world• Feynman Prizes

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How do we write small?

Use lenses in reverse:

• Pass light thru focusing on a small spot.

• Focused light is intense. Use material that can be etched by this focused energy.

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How do we write small? …

• Entire LOC fits in area of a 35-page magazine.

there is room at the bottom.

• Feynman then demonstrates:

– There is plenty of room at the bottom.

– Using physics known in 1959(!).

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Outline

• Introduction• How do we write small?• Information on a small scale• Better electron microscopes• The marvelous biological system• Miniaturizing the computer• Miniaturization by evaporation• Problems of lubrication• 100 tiny hands• Rearranging the atoms• Atoms in a small world• Feynman Prizes

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Information on a small scale

• Encode information as bits: 1 char = 7 bits.

• Using volumes instead of surfaces– 5 X 5 X 5 = 125 atoms of 1 metal for 1– 125 atoms of another metal for 0– The Brittanica = 1015 bits– All of mankind’s books fit in 1/200 inch cubed.

• (Reading inside the cube is not discussed.)• Nature uses approximately 50 atoms/bit in DNA.

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Outline

• Introduction• How do we write small?• Information on a small scale• Better electron microscopes• The marvelous biological system• Miniaturizing the computer• Miniaturization by evaporation• Problems of lubrication• 100 tiny hands• Rearranging the atoms• Atoms in a small world• Feynman Prizes

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Better electron microscopes

• A 100-fold improvement in electron microscopy goes a long way.

• It is possible:– 1959 microscopes resolve to 10 angstroms.– Wave length of electron is 1/20 angstrom– 100-fold improvement thus is possible.

(been done?)

• Applications to scientific problems:– See DNA, RNA, the cell at work.– See chemical reactions at work.

• Is there a physical way to synthesize chemicals?

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Outline

• Introduction• How do we write small?• Information on a small scale• Better electron microscopes• The marvelous biological system• Miniaturizing the computer• Miniaturization by evaporation• Problems of lubrication• 100 tiny hands• Rearranging the atoms• Atoms in a small world• Feynman Prizes

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The marvelous biological system

• Cells don’t just write information, they are active. – Replicating parts (e.g., proteins)– Replicating themselves (mitosis)– Replicating an entire organism.

• Some cells move; all have moving parts.• Can we make small:

– Computers– Other maneuverable devices?

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Outline

• Introduction• How do we write small?• Information on a small scale• Better electron microscopes• The marvelous biological system• Miniaturizing the computer• Miniaturization by evaporation• Problems of lubrication• 100 tiny hands• Rearranging the atoms• Atoms in a small world• Feynman Prizes

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Miniaturizing the computer

• Make wires 10 – 100 atoms in diameter.

(In 1959, computers filled entire rooms.)

• Feynman speculates: 106 bigger computers

could perform qualitatively harder tasks.

– E.g., face recognition, at which the brain excels

(occupies an enormous % of the human brain).

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Miniaturizing the computer …

• Brain’s microscopic elements >> computers.

• What if we made sub-microscopic elements?

• Feynman: faster computers ultimately must

have smaller elements

(Speed of light lower bound on latency)

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Outline

• Introduction• How do we write small?• Information on a small scale• Better electron microscopes• The marvelous biological system• Miniaturizing the computer• Miniaturization by evaporation• Problems of lubrication• 100 tiny hands• Rearranging the atoms• Atoms in a small world• Feynman Prizes

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Miniaturization by evaporation

• Make small elements using evaporation:

– Evaporate:

• a metal layer;

• an insulation layer;

• repeat until have all the elements you want.

• ICs, “invented” much later, (still!) made this

way.

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Miniaturization by evaporation …

• Make small machines (not just computers) using small tools?

• What are the problems?– Resolution of the material.

• A flywheel of diameter 10 atoms won’t be round.

– Weight/inertia do not dominate at smaller scale.– Electrical parts (e.g., magnetic fields) must be

redesigned (but can be done).

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Outline

• Introduction• How do we write small?• Information on a small scale• Better electron microscopes• The marvelous biological system• Miniaturizing the computer• Miniaturization by evaporation• Problems of lubrication• 100 tiny hands• Rearranging the atoms• Atoms in a small world• Feynman Prizes

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Problems of lubrication

• Heat dissipates rapidly at that scale.

• Don’t lubricate!

• Feynman’s friend, Hibbs: nanoscale machines as medical agents, running around inside our bodies.

• How to make small things:– With existing tools, make smaller tools.

– With smaller tools, make yet smaller tools.

– Iterate.

• What about needed increases in precision?

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Problems of lubrication …

• Increasing precision: an example.1. Make smaller flat surfaces.

2. Take 3 such smaller surfaces. Rub them together until they are flat enough at that scale.

• At each level, perform precision-improving actions, at that scale.

• Use simultaneous replication to increase manufacturing efficiency.

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Outline

• Introduction• How do we write small?• Information on a small scale• Better electron microscopes• The marvelous biological system• Miniaturizing the computer• Miniaturization by evaporation• Problems of lubrication• 100 tiny hands• Rearranging the atoms• Atoms in a small world• Feynman Prizes

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100 tiny hands

• Fractal branching ultra-dexterous robots (Bush robots)H. Moravec, J. Easudes, and F. Dellaert

NASA Advanced Concepts Research Project, December, 1996.

Each level is a hand.The tip of each finger has a Smaller hand.We get an exponential number of small fingers

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100 tiny hands …

• Feynamn notes, at this scale:

– Gravity is almost imperceptible compared to

Van der Waals molecular attraction.

– Van der Waals attractions make things at

this scale attract (stick).

– Designs must take account for these forces.

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Outline

• Introduction• How do we write small?• Information on a small scale• Better electron microscopes• The marvelous biological system• Miniaturizing the computer• Miniaturization by evaporation• Problems of lubrication• 100 tiny hands• Rearranging the atoms• Atoms in a small world• Feynman Prizes

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Rearranging the atoms

• Constructing materials atom by atom gives

“materials science” enormously more potential.

• E.g., make arrays of tiny circuits that emit light

at the same wavelength in the same direction.

(This is being done now in laboratories.)

• Resistance problems increase at that scale.

Suggests using superconductivity, as 1 approach.

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Outline

• Introduction• How do we write small?• Information on a small scale• Better electron microscopes• The marvelous biological system• Miniaturizing the computer• Miniaturization by evaporation• Problems of lubrication• 100 tiny hands• Rearranging the atoms• Atoms in a small world• Feynman Prizes

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Atoms in a small world

• Atoms on a small scale satisfy laws of quantum mechanics.– Nothing acts like this at a large scale.– We can exploit:

• quantized energy levels• Interactions of quantized spins, etc.

• Manufacturing perfection:– If resolution is less than 1 atom, then each

copy is exact, atom for atom.

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Atoms in a small world …

• Replace chemistry with physical manufacture.

• Proposed a competition:

Who can build the smallest motor, for example.

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Outline

• Introduction• How do we write small?• Information on a small scale• Better electron microscopes• The marvelous biological system• Miniaturizing the computer• Miniaturization by evaporation• Problems of lubrication• 100 tiny hands• Rearranging the atoms• Atoms in a small world• Feynman Prizes

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Feynman Prizes

• Information on the Feynman Prizes:

http://www.foresight.org/FI/fi_spons.html

1998 Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology, Theory

• Ralph Merkle (Xerox PARC)

• Stephen Walch (ELORET at NASA Ames)

For computational model of molecular tools for

atomically-precise chemical reactions.