Ultrananocrystalline Diamond Film

buzzlightyear writes: "The Sept. 12 Chicago Tribune has an article headlined "Sparkling discovery for science" , about the development of ultrananocrystalline diamond film. The scientist who developed this, Dieter Gruen, started by experimenting with fragmented buckyballs, and had proven its properties in 1994, but he is only now receiving recognition and an award from the Materials Research Society. Preliminary tests show that ultrananodiamonds are 1,000 more wear-resistant than silicon, and 1 million times denser than conventional crystals. This makes them a practical base material for micromachines and other devices that had only been theoretically possible before. Maybe this will mark the real beginning of Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age."

Comments

Heinlein, RA: hero; Dr A book recommendation

[arete]

I love Heinlein. His books changed my life. I idolize him. But you do seem somewhat deluded.

Early in his career he wrote very wholesome books - which were Juvenile Fiction (include Starship Troopers, which movie really depressed me) meaning they were written for kids. Which is great, especially considering the reading level is above most adult books these days. Maybe you only read his little kids books.

Later on he wrote fewer juvenile books, and more adult ones. (There is some cronological overlap between the categories. But the books are usually labeled.) These were not "wholesome" in any way. Juvenile or not was based largely on the applied themes.

I'd agree he had issues. Almost every adult contained orgies of some sort, usually with all the protagonists, and many contained various other "free thinking" sexual practices. I doubt he ever had anyone punished for incest. People who were abusive were likely to get punished, although his books were realistic enough that this didn't always happen.

But I love him. He was smart and experienced. He was dead-on about most people, imho. And he was honest about things. And I agree that he hit to the heart of a lot of people by being honest.

Another recommendation: The Sensuous Dirty Old Man, by Dr. A (Issac Asimov) I was very surpised when I read this book. I've since decided that good science fiction writers are smart and have few delusions, and that only delusions can keep you from being a sick bastard.

Important uses.

[Matt2000]

"Preliminary tests show that ultrananodiamonds are 1,000 more wear-resistant than silicon, and 1 million times denser than conventional crystals." The new material will immediately go into use as packaging for products such as cassette tapes, finally fulfilling science's dream of "the most irritating fuckin' thing to open of all time."

how are carbon MEMS any better than silicon?

[crgrace]

Which gets at the real beauty of Gruen's work. Now these astounding, tiny machines are much closer to reality than ever before, at a time when there is an intense international push to develop these microscopic machines--known as MEMS.

MEMS, Microelectromechanical systems, could very well be a revolutionary technology with such applications ranging from tiny actuators for robots or satellites to small, efficient inductors in radio-frequency integrated circuits. While this article implies carbon-diamond MEMS could be revolutionary, it gives no indication they'd be practical.

Remember, silicon (and all semiconductors, including carbon) has a diamond structure, so presumably using these buckyball carbon diamonds would be better. The problem is, how would we fabricate them cheaply?

The key reason silicon micromachines dominate the market for things such as automobile airbag sensors is because they are able to leverage already highly advanced silicon fabrication technologies originally developed for integrated circuits. No such technology exists for pure carbon and developing one would cost an unbelieveably large amount of money and take many years. There had better be some compelling reason for us to do so.

Many times technologies "better" than silicon have come out only to remain niche technologies. A good example is III-V semiconductors such as Gallium Arsenide. While they are indispensible for lasers and such, they are not used for integrated circuits nearly as much as silicon, because they are so damn expensive. Their current main use, RF power amps and fiber-optic receivers, is quickly being impinged upon by advanced silicon CMOS technologies.

My point is that this discovery is pretty interesting, but it is far from "revolutionary". Until someone comes up with a killer app that provides a compelling reason to justify the expense to develop this further, I'm going to keep my money on silicon-based micromachines.

Re:It's a book by Neil Stephenson

[smartin]

Somehow I think you (and severaly other posters) completely missed the point on the Neo-Victorian society. One of the common themes (if you can count two books) in Stephensons work is the idea that organized goverments will ultimately break down in the face of technology. In both Snow Crash and Diamond Age, the result is a large number of smaller goverments formed around some sort of shared ideal or commercial culture. In Diamond Age, it just so happens that one of the main groups in the book are a set of people organized around a shared ideal based on a Victorian society. This is not a prediction that nano technology will morph americans into neo Victorians, it is just an example of one possible group that may form in a world where large governments based on geographical borders no longer make sense.

a million times desnser?

[Demi-Guod!]

ultrananodiamonds are 1,000 more wear-resistant than silicon, and 1 million times denser than conventional crystals.

A million times denser would give one cubic centimeter of the stuff a mass of several metric tons. What the article actually says is:

1 million crystals in Gruen's diamond film can fit inside the crystal produced by conventional methods

Which means that the crystals are a million times SMALLER, not denser.

D

Here's a way to fix global warming

[Shotgun]

Use this process to coat the rings and cylinder wall for my trucks engine. While there at it, coat everything that rubs or has water running through it. With its low coefficient of friction, and long wear, the engine will double in horsepower, get twice the mileage and practically never wear out (with proper maintenance).

The long life will mean that the most environmentally damaging the vehicles do in their lifespan (other than crushing small woodland critters), being made, will be done less often.

hmmm...

[Vorro]

"This makes them a practical base material for micro machines..."

What was wrong with good old die-cast metal?

Besides, I don't really see how some useless upgrade to miniature cars actually affects science. After all, all Micro Machines are nowadays are a crappy standover of the 80's, somehow still alive today... though I'm glad we don't have to listen to that dude in the Micro Machines commercials talk at 300 kilometres per hour anymore...

The Micro Machines Nintendo game was pretty fun, though... I enjoyed racing around on a pool table.

Ah well.

-Vorro
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A wise man speaks because he has something to say.
A foolish man speaks because he has to say something.