Digital Matter?: Towards Mechanised Mechanosynthesis

单分子水平的计算机控制的化学，这一领域还处于起步阶段，可以说是纳米技术力量和潜力的最令人兴奋的，也是对许多人来说，最明确的例子。最近在德国和美国的开创性工作表明，有可能通过扫描探针驱动的相互作用来驱动化学反应和合成分子。在英国，诺丁汉、伯明翰和牛津的纳米科学小组已经证明，在低温下首创的原子/分子操纵策略可以扩展到室温环境。这项奖学金申请的重点是开发下一代扫描探针操作协议，能够最终实现三维纳米结构的逐个原子自动组装。我们的目标是编程将物质从其一致的原子中组装起来。这一极具挑战性的目标有可能彻底改变21世纪科学的关键领域，包括纳米制造、材料加工、表面化学和低维电子系统的研究。

Computer-controlled chemistry at the single molecule level, a field very much in its infancy, represents arguably the most exciting and, to many, definitive example of the power and potential of nanotechnology. Recent ground-breaking work in Germany and the US has shown that it is possible to drive chemical reactions and to synthesise molecules via interactions driven by a scanning probe. In the UK, the nanoscience groups at Nottingham, Birmingham, and Oxford have demonstrated that atomic/molecular manipulation strategies pioneered at low temperatures can be extended to a room temperature environment. The focus of this fellowship application is to develop next-generation protocols for scanning probe manipulation capable of automated atom-by-atom assembly of, ultimately, three dimensional nanostructures. Our goal is to programme the assembly of matter from its consitutent atoms. This exceptionally challenging objective has the potential to revolutionise key areas of 21st century science including nanofabrication, materials processing, surface chemistry, and the study of low dimensional electron systems.