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New Technique For 2D Imaging Of Nanostructures

Posted by timothy on from the good-things-small-packages dept.

NanotechNews.com writes: "It seems that researchers (One of those is Norm Bartelt) at the U.S. Department of Energy?s Sandia National Laboratory have created a new way to represent self-assembling nanostructures (The bottom up approach of nanotechnology). They can record in real time, real space (real time video) the nanostructures, which self-assemble and transform. They used a low-energy electron microscope (LEEM). Furthermore the core of the news is: "Theorists long have believed that competing attractive and repulsive inter-atomic interactions can lead to the spontaneous formation of ordered patterns in widely varying chemical and physical systems. Potentially, such patterns could be used as templates for nanostructure fabrications.""

8 of 81 comments (clear)

  1. Is this completely nuts? by K8Fan · · Score: 2

    A while back, we saw a method for moving objects around using complex waveforms

    It occured to me that this basic idea (at extremely higher frequencies) could be used to move nanoscale structures around.

    --
    "How perfectly Goddamn delightful it all is, to be sure" Charles Crumb
    1. Re:Is this completely nuts? by matrix0040 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The problem there is that at that small resolution you cannot trust what you see. There's a basic limit expressed in terms of Heisenberg uncertainity principle which states that if u know the position then u can't know the velocity. So theres a trade off there. So it's not possible to move nanoscale structures around .

    2. Re:Is this completely nuts? by AlecC · · Score: 2, Funny

      Why do you think that this is approaching the Heisenberg limit? It is working on the same scale as cellular cehmistry works e.g. DNA decoding and protein synthesis. The Heisenberg limit, at normal temperatures, only cuts in another level lower, for individual electrons and suchlike.

      Mind you, this is an awful long way from anything useful. Good research, though.

      --
      Consciousness is an illusion caused by an excess of self consciousness.
  2. Matter replication? by gnovos · · Score: 2, Interesting

    How far is 2-D from 3-D (or at least multiple layers of 2-D) nanostructures? And then how far from those 3-D nano-structures to 3-D human-touchable sized structures? Primitive matter replication may not be that far away folks, and if you think there are problems now with digital copy protection laws, you ain't seen nuthin yet!

    Imagine the chaos to come when a dollar bill, or a stock certificate, or a strand of DNA can be copied perfectly, a molecular twin of the original...

    I don't know if we are headed for utopia or armageddon, but at least it's going to be an interesting trip! :)

    --
    "Your superior intellect is no match for our puny weapons!"
    1. Re:Matter replication? by gnovos · · Score: 2, Insightful

      "Be fairly easy to filter these out of the economy."

      How exactly? If the copy is perfect, I mean down to the exact placement of every molecule, who has the "real" dollar? For that matter, who has the "real" Picasso? Who has the "real" Ford Taurus, the "real" can of Hormel chili, or the "real" first-edition signed copy of Spiderman? Sit and think for a minute of all the physical things in your life that have some monetary value. How many of those things would suddenly become worth purely the cost of raw materials if the "Matter Replicator" becomes a reality.

      I admit that this technology is a ways off, but it is feasible. It isn't just a pipe dream for the SF writers to ponder over for the next 1,000 years, it is something that may exist in the next 100.

      How will we deal with it? There will be a huge paradigm shift in the world of economics when such a device exists, and we aren't going to be prepared for it...

      --
      "Your superior intellect is no match for our puny weapons!"
    2. Re:Matter replication? by p3d0 · · Score: 2

      The impression I got from the article is that this has nothing to do with fabrication. They are simply imaging a process which occurs anyway. However, I may have misunderstood.

      --
      Patrick Doyle
      I mod down every jackass who puts his moderation policy in his sig. Oh, wait a sec....
  3. Re:Money replication? by Darth+Paul · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Why talk about money, when such a technology would make money obselete?

    Indeed, maybe you could take this a step further and say that a replicator would abolish the concept of "economy" as we know it.

    Economy is based on "scarcity", that resources are limited, money being a way of measuring relative worths (albeit poorly). Take that away, and money loses its representative power.

    I can think of three possible replacement currencies: 1) Respect 2) Services and 3) Willingness to use replicated weapons.

  4. New warez or new GNU? by erotus · · Score: 2

    "if you think there are problems now with digital copy protection laws, you ain't seen nuthin yet!"

    Star trek like replicators, Oh my! I can see it now... download your billz here. Seriously though, this would extend IP laws to physical objects since they would also be an arrangement of "numbers" of some kind... hell, they already are. This would open up a serious can of worms and with laws like the DMCA, the chilling effect would be horrible. Granted, I highly doubt a replication device would fall into the hands of consumers without serious copy protections built in. I highly doubt consumers would even be able to buy such devices but lets speculate for a moment.

    Now for the funny part - Imagine downloading warez like:
    happy_meal.img
    vaio_laptop.img
    notebook_paper.img

    Now, the above examples could be forseen by the industries as bad bad bad. Imagine MacDonalds with a lawsuit against burger pirates. Imagine Sony going bonkers because people are copying their laptop and not buying the hardware. Notebook paper replication will at least save trees. Now, if intricate machines like laptops can be replicated, you'd better believe that such replicators would only be used in the industry to cut manufacturing costs. Create one perfect laptop and clone the hell out of it.

    The first example, a happy meal image, is quite interesting to ponder. If such an abundant supply of food could exist, how long before lawsuits fly around when poorer nations use this technology to feed the hungry. Will MacDonalds, Pizza Hut, or even the local grocery store chains throw a fit? I bet they would! It will be like Drug companies going after the third world for cloning their pills, only much worse.

    Anyhow, my final thought to throw out to all of you would concern the free software philosophy as it applies to physical objects. Would RMS create an open source hardware equivalent of GNU for the benefit of humanity despite the loss of "potential" revenue for the evil, greedy corporations? Would someone create a good steak and image it for free? Would you check the source first... Anti-virus could have a new meaning in this realm you know. As far as hardware goes, what would stop someone from creating a perfect looking/working laptop that would explode after 5 minutes of use? The world is certainly going to be an interesting place if nanotech has this potential.