Atomic-scale manufacturing now a reality

Atomic-scale manufacturing now a reality
Credit: ACS

Scientists at the University of Alberta have applied a machine learning technique using artificial intelligence to perfect and automate atomic-scale manufacturing, something which has never been done before. The vastly greener, faster, smaller technology enabled by this development greatly reduces impact on the climate while still satisfying the insatiable demands of the information age.

"Most of us thought we'd never be able to automate atomic writing and editing, but stubborn persistence has paid off, and now Research Associate Moe Rashidi has done it," said Robert Wolkow, professor of physics at the University of Alberta, who along with his Research Associate has just published a paper announcing their findings.

"Until now, we printed with about as efficiently as medieval monks produced books," explained Wolkow. "For a long while, we have had the equivalent of a pen for writing with atoms, but we had to write manually. So we couldn't mass produce atom-scale devices, and we couldn't commercialize anything. Now that has all changed, much like the disruption following the arrival of the printing press for those medieval monks. Machine learning has automated the atom fabrication process, and an atom-scale manufacturing revolution is sure to follow."

Doing more with less

This builds on Wolkow's extensive body of work in creating solutions to drive atomic-scale low-power electronics. The physicist has devoted his career to pushing atomic-scale manufacturing forward in response to not only the rapidly changing needs of our but also the changes to our climate. Some estimates predict that if we continue on pace with our current energy consumption habits, by 2025, the information and communication technology industry would not only consume 20 percent of the world's energy but also contribute more than five percent of the .

For Wolkow, this all adds up to an urgent need for a new basis for our electronics, something which he predicts will be powered by atomic-scale fabrication and mass manufacturing, now possible thanks to his new discovery.

"Fabrication at the ultimate small scale not only lets us do things better, but we can also create entirely new functions that conventional technology simply cannot do. Combining that with a practical path to will be game changing. This allows us to create a new, extremely efficient basis for computing using the natural properties of individual atoms."

More information: Mohammad Rashidi et al, Autonomous Scanning Probe Microscopy in Situ Tip Conditioning through Machine Learning, ACS Nano (2018). DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.8b02208

Journal information: ACS Nano

Citation: Atomic-scale manufacturing now a reality (2018, May 23) retrieved 19 March 2024 from https://phys.org/news/2018-05-atomic-scale-reality.html
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

Explore further

Electrical currents can be now be switched on and off at the smallest conceivable scale

346 shares

Feedback to editors