X-Message-Number: 2879.1
From ig2!att!glas.apc.org!binran Tue Jul 12 10:06:04 1994 remote from whscad1
Date: Tue, 12 Jul 94 18:05 +0400
From:  (Vladimir Razzhivin)
To: 
Subject: CRYONICS

ATOMIC PRINTERS OR TIME ESTIMATION OF ATOM-BY-ATOM BRAIN ASSEMBLING


by MICHAEL SOLOVIOV, 


1. INTRODUCTION


I try to estimate the time that some future technology will need in the case
if a suspended patient will be reanimated by reconstruction:
(1) the frozen body will be "scanned" to define the location and type of
    all atoms in the body;
(2) this information will be processed to correct all possible mistakes
    and to modify the atomic structure of body in order to cure diseases
    and to do feasible the thawing (e.g. to modify the ice structure from 
    solid state to amorphous);
(3) this processed information will be used by some STM-derived device to
    assemble the body atom-by-atom (here I estimate only this step as the
    most cruicial one);
(4) the reconstructed body will be thawn.

This approach differs from Merkle's [1] and Drexler's one [2]:
(1) not the molecular repair -- but the atomic reconstruction;
(2) not the assemblers -- but a big number of STM-like needles united in
    matrix.


2. FACTS, ASSUMPTIONS, AND CALCULATIONS

                                      -3 3
(1) Brain volume (assumption): Vb = 10  m .

(2) Brain weight (assumption): Wb = 1 kg.
                                             -27
(3) Atomic mass unit (amu): 1 amu = 1.66 * 10   kg.

(4) Numerical atomic composition of the body [3] and atomic weights (only for
    the main atoms):

    ----------------------------------
    Atom   Weight (amu)  % in the body
    ----------------------------------
     H         1.0         60.6
     O        16.0         25.7
     C        12.0         10.7
     N        14.0          2.4
     Ca       40.1          0.2
    ----------------------------------

(5) Average weight of atom of the human body (calculated from (4)):
                              -26
    Wa = 6.44 amu = 1.069 * 10   kg.
                                                   26
(6) Number of atoms in the brain: Na = Wb / Wa = 10  .

(7) Average distance between atoms (calculated from (1) & (6)):

    La = 0.215 nm.

(8) Real distances between atoms in proteins vary from 0.1 to 0.3 nm [3]
    (valency/non-valency links, distance in nm, ? - no data in [3]):

    --------------------------------------------
           H         O         C          N
    --------------------------------------------
    H |  ? /0.20   ? /0.24  0.11/0.24  0.10/0.24
    O |    *       ? /0.28  0.12/0.28    ? /0.27
    C |    *         *      0.15/0.32  0.14/0.29
    N |    *         *          *        ? /0.27
    --------------------------------------------
                                                               7
(9) Reasonable time to assemble the brain (assumption): Tb = 10 s

    (about 4 months).

(10) Assembling speed to assemble the brain for Tb:
                     19
    Sb = Na / Tb = 10  atoms/s.
                                                 17
(11) Assume that 1 2D layer of atoms contain 2*10  atoms =>

    Sb = 50 layers/s => time to assemble 1 layer: Tl = 0.02 s.

(12) How many bits to describe 1 atom at 0.01 nm precision

In case of using absolute coordinates we need about 100 bits per atom [1].
However it is possible to use relative coordinates. Assuming that atoms
can not be closer than 0.1 nm we need 6 bits per coordinate for distances
from -0.41 to 0.42 nm (it is possible to insert "void" atoms for the longer
distances). Using 6 bits to describe the type of atom we need 24 bits
total. Moreover it is possible to compress this information. I reached 10% 
compression using the PKZIP archive software for the file contained information
about 100,000 randomly distributed atoms and 15% compression for the limited
range of X coordinate. Thus about 20 bits per atom (or even letter) is enough 
to describe 1 atom of the human body.


3. NEEDLE MATRIX PRINTER


(1) Hypothetical printing (assembling) process

(Step 1 A)         A     B
          . . . ============= . . . . . . . . . .
                  \ /   \ /                          Positioning
                   V     V                           of the A needle
                                                     over the source
                NNOOHH  C  H  NNCCHH O   N
          . . . ------ ------ ------ ------ . . .
                 (S)    (D)    (S)    (D)

(Step 2 A)         A     B
          . . . ============= . . . . . . . . . .
                  \ /   \ /                          The A needle
                   V     V                           captures an atom
                   O
                NNO HH  C  H  NNCCHH O   N
          . . . ------ ------ ------ ------ . . .
                 (S)    (D)    (S)    (D)

(Step 3 A)             A     B     --->
          . . . . . ============= . . . . . . . .
                      \ /   \ /                      The atom is
                       V     V                       transported from
                   o...O..o                          the source to the
                NNO HH  C  H  NNCCHH O   N           destination
          . . . ------ ------ ------ ------ . . .
                 (S)    (D)    (S)    (D)

(Step 4 A)                A     B
           . . . . . . ============= . . . . . .
                         \ /   \ /                   Fine positioning
                          V     V                    of the A needle
                          O                          over the destination
                NNO HH  C  H  NNCCHH O   N
          . . . ------ ------ ------ ------ . . .
                 (S)    (D)    (S)    (D)

(Step 5 A)                A     B
           . . . . . . ============= . . . . . .
                         \ /   \ /                   The A needle
                          V     V                    releases the atom

                NNO HH  C OH  NNCCHH O   N
          . . . ------ ------ ------ ------ . . .
                 (S)    (D)    (S)    (D)

(Step 1 B)                A     B
           . . . . . . ============= . . . . . .
                         \ /   \ /                   Positioning
                          V     V                    of the B needle
                                                     over the source
                NNO HH  C OH  NNCCHH O   N
          . . . ------ ------ ------ ------ . . .
                 (S)    (D)    (S)    (D)

(Step 2 B) - (Step 5 B): The same as (Step 2 A) - (Step 5 A) -- only
the B needle is active and the atoms are transported in the back
direction (right to left).

Then these steps are repeated until the brain is assembled.

Notation:
  (D) - destination: surface of brain piece
  (S) - source: surface of piece of "row" atoms
  A,B - needles
  H,C,O,N - atoms


(2) The needle trace to place 1 atom (top view, approximately)

    Source            Atom transportation     Destination
    positioning                               positioning

        20 nm                1 mcm               0.2 nm
    <------------> <------------------------> <--------->

    S....C..................................... ... ... F   ^
                                              : : : : : :   |
                                              : : : : : :   | 0.2 nm
   [HHHHCCCCOOONNN]                           : : : : R :   |
                                              :.: :.: :.:   v

                                                  <->
                                                   0.01 nm

  S  - start of the needle movement
  F  - finish of the needle movement
  C  - here the atom was captured (for example)
  R  - here the atom was released (for example)
[..] - atom distribution on the source surface (for example)

(3) C & R places are controlled by the electric pulses fed individually
to each needle during uniform movement of needle matrix over the
source/destination. The place where the atom was captured defines the kind 
of atom.

(4) The needle start position is shifted 0.2 nm forward or aside to place
the next atom . The following figure is the map of start positions to place
12 atoms (for example):

    1---2---3---4  ^
                |  | 0.2 nm
    8---7---6---5  v
    |
    9--10--11--12

    <-->
     0.2 nm

(5) Printer side view (fragment)

. . . ===================================== . . .
      VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV         <--  needles
       ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
      | (S) | (D) | (S) | (D) | (S) | (D) |         (S) moves up
      |     |     |     |     |     |     |
       ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----          (D) moves down
         ^     |     ^     |     ^     |                to be "glued"
         |     |     |     |     |     |
               |           V           |
               |   ----- ----- -----   |
               -->| (D) | (D) | (D) |<--
                  |     |     |     |
                   ----- ----- -----
                              <----->
                               1 mcm

(6) Printer: top view

        ^   --------------------------------------
        |  |::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::|
        |  |::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::<-------- 2D needle array
        |  |::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::|            (matrix):
  10 cm |  |::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::|
        |  |::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::|         12
        |  |::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::|     2*10   needles
        |  |::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::|
        v   --------------------------------------

           <-------------------------------------->
                            20 cm

(7) Printer: top view under the needle array (fragment)

    -----------------------------------------   ^
    |///|\\\|///|\\\|///|\\\|///|\\\|///|\\\|   |
    |///|\\\|///|\\\|///|\\\|///|\\\|///|\\\|   |
    |///|\\\|///|\\\|///|\\\|///|\\\|///|\\\|   |
    |/S/|\D\|/S/|\D\|/S/|\D\|/S/|\D\|/S/|\D\|   |  10 cm
    |///|\\\|///|\\\|///|\\\|///|\\\|///|\\\|   |
    |///|\\\|///|\\\|///|\\\|///|\\\|///|\\\|   |
    |///|\\\|///|\\\|///|\\\|///|\\\|///|\\\|   |
    |///|\\\|///|\\\|///|\\\|///|\\\|///|\\\|   |
    -----------------------------------------   v
    <--->       <--->
     1 mcm       1 mcm

(8) If such variant of the printer is too large it is possible to split it
    into smaller devices. It is also possible to change oscillatory movement
    to rotatory or to combine them.

(9) Distance between needles: Ln = 100 nm.

(10) Distance between atoms: La = 0.2 nm.

(11) Atom position precision (grid step): Lg = 0.01 nm.
                                                        2
(12) Number of destination positions:   Nd = ( La / Lg ) = 400.

(13) Atom transport distance (between source and destination): Lt' = 1 mcm.

(14) Path length over the source to select and capture atoms: Ls' = 20 nm.

(15) Path for needle to go during the fine positioning over destination:

     Ld' = La * La / Lg = 4 nm.

(16) Number of atoms to transport (to print) by 1 needle during assembling
                                 2          5
     of 1 layer: Nl = ( Ln / La ) = 2.5 * 10 .

(17) Transport path for needle to go during assembling of 1 layer:
                        -6           5          -1
      Lt = Lt' * Nl = 10   * 2.5 * 10 = 2.5 * 10  m = 25 cm.

(18) Source path for needle to go during assembling of 1 layer:
                             -9           5        -3
      Ls = Ls' * Nl = 20 * 10   * 2.5 * 10 = 5 * 10  m = 5 mm.

(19) Destination path for needle to go during assembling of 1 layer:
                            -9           5    -3
      Ld = Ld' * Nl = 4 * 10   * 2.5 * 10 = 10  m = 1 mm.

(20) Transport time to assemble 1 layer (assumption): Tt = 0.5 * Tl = 0.01 s.

(21) Destination position time to assemble 1 layer (assumption):

     Td = 0.5 * Tl = 0.01 s.

(22) Source position time to assemble 1 layer (assumption):

     Ts = 0.01 * Tl = 0.0002 s.
                                              -1      -2
(23) Transport speed: St = Lt / Tt =  2.5 * 10   / 10   = 25 m/s.

                                                   -3     -2
(24) Destination position speed: Sd = Ld / Td =  10   / 10   = 0.1 m/s.

                                                 -3         -4
(25) Source position speed: Ss = Ls / Ts = 5 * 10   / 2 * 10   = 25 m/s.


(26) Frequency of control modulation for destination positioning:
                                     10
     Fd = 1 / ( Td / (Nl * Nd) ) = 10  Hz = 10 GHz.



4. "JET" OR PIPELINE PRINTER


(1) Hypothetical printing processes:

(a)      (S)
      ----------      Atoms "jump" from needle to needle.
          *
        / A           Notation: * - atoms; A,V,< - needles.
       * <::
       | <::          This is 1 "head". The printer is the array
       * <::          of "heads".
        \ V
          *
      ----------
         (D)

(b)      (S)
      ----------      Atoms move in nanotube.
          *
        /   \         The printer is the array of nanotubes.
        | * |
        |   |
        | * |
        \   /
          *
      ----------
         (D)

(c) The same as (b) but the source is a cold gas (plasma?) in chamber.
    There could be 1 chamber per each type of atoms and the transport
    nanotube system.

(2) The brain is assembled as the whole (no pieces, no "gluing").

(3) There is no "mechanical" movement to transport and to catch atoms --
    the only movement is needed for destination position. Thus the
    speed and frequency calculations are as the following:

(4) Destination position time to assemble 1 layer: Td = Tl = 0.02 s.

(5) Frequency of control modulation: Fd = 5 GHz.


5. LASER PRINTER


Atoms are positioned by electromagnetic field (light) [4,5]. The current
precision (line width) is 65 nm.


REFERENCES

[1] R.C.Merkle. "Molecular repair of the brain", Cryonics, Jan. & Apr. 1994.

[2] K.E.Drexler. "Engines of Creation", 1986.

[3] M.V.Volkenstein. "Biophysics", 1981 (in Russian).

[4] J.J.McClelland e.a. "Laser-focused atomic deposition", Science, 5 Nov.
    1993, p.877. (reprinted in Immortalist, Jan. 1994, p.48).

[5] B.P.Stein. "Atoms caught in a web of light", New Scientist, 29 Jan. 1994,
    p. 32. (It is more popular than [4] and contains the short survey of
    the problem).

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