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In 2007,productive nanosystems were defined as functionalnanoscalesystems that makeatomically-specifiedstructures anddevices underprogrammatic control, i.e., performing atomically precise manufacturing.[1] As of 2015, such devices were only hypothetical, and productive nanosystems represented a more advanced approach among several to perform Atomically Precise Manufacturing. A workshop on Integrated Nanosystems for Atomically Precise Manufacturing was held by theDepartment of Energy in 2015.[2]
Present-day technologies are limited in various ways. Large atomically precise structures (that is, virtually defect-free) do not exist.Complex3D nanoscale structures exist in the form of folded linear molecules such asDNA origami andproteins. As of 2018, it was also possible to build very small atomically precise structures usingscanning probe microscopy to construct molecules such as FeCO[3] andTriangulene, or to perform hydrogen depassivation lithography.[4] But it is not yet possible to combine components in a systematic way to build larger, more complex systems.
Principles of physics and examples from nature both suggest that it will be possible to extend atomically precise fabrication to more complex products of larger size, involving a wider range of materials. An example of progress in this direction would be Christian Schafmeister's work onbis-peptides.[5]
In 2005,Mihail Roco, one of the architects of the USA's National Nanotechnology Initiative, proposed four states of nanotechnology that seem to parallel the technical progress of the Industrial Revolution, of which productive nanosystems is the most advanced.[6]
1. Passive nanostructures - nanoparticles and nanotubes that provide added strength, electrical and thermal conductivity, toughness, hydrophilic/phobic and/or other properties that emerge from their nanoscale structure.
2. Activenanodevices - nanostructures that change states in order to transform energy, information, and/or to perform useful functions. There is some debate about whether or not state-of-the art integrated circuits qualify here, since they operate despite emergent nanoscale properties, not because of them. Therefore, the argument goes, they don't qualify as "novel" nanoscale properties, even though the devices themselves are between one and a hundred nanometers.
3. Complexnanomachines - the assembly of different nanodevices into a nanosystem to accomplish a complex function. Some would argue thatZettl's machines fit in this category; others argue that modern microprocessors andFPGAs also fit.
4. Systems of nanosystems/Productive nanosystems - these will be complex nanosystems that produce atomically precise parts for other nanosystems, not necessarily using novel nanoscale-emergent properties, but well-understood fundamentals of manufacturing. Because of the discrete (i.e. atomic) nature of matter and the possibility of exponential growth, this stage is seen as the basis of another industrial revolution. There are currently many different approaches to building productive nanosystems: including top-down approaches like Patternedatomic layer epitaxy[7] andDiamondoidMechanosynthesis.[8] There are also bottom-up approaches likeDNA Origami andBis-peptide Synthesis.[9]
A fifth step, info/bio/nano convergence, was added later by Roco. This is the convergence of the three most revolutionary technologies, since every living thing is made up of atoms and information.
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