Machine phase
Molecules atoms moieties and molecular machine elements like DMEs are said to be in the machine phase when they are fixated to a place or fixated to controlled axes (controlled degrees of freedom) such that thermal movement can't move them to unknown places or bring them in an unknown states.
- Nanosystems 1.2.2.a A machine-phase system is one in which all atoms follow controlled trajectories (within a range determined in part by thermal excitation).
Machine phase is sometimes also called "eutactic phase".
Eutactic means "well ordered". (Not eutectic wich means "well melting").
Contents
Why work in the machine phase?
The natural solution to the problem of assemblying products
For the problem of assembling stuff in an efficient fast and controlled ways macroscale robotics is just a natural choice.
And as it turns out almost macroscale style machinery at the nanoscale works even better at the nanoscale that at the macroscale.
(Contrary to what the effects of current day experimental research limitations may seem to imply)
Macroscale "cog-and-gear machinery" is typically in an eutactic phase.
Well there are a few exceptions where a bit of macroscale dystactic phase is involved.
Like e.g. part rattlers forcing parts in the right orientation.
Open loop control – Remember where you put your stuff when you operate blindly
Since assembly at the nanocosm is done blindly it is important to know where you left your things. Thus one wants to work in the machine phase. Searching and grabbing your tools like we do in the makro world does not work. Once one let go of a smaller molecule its as good as impossible to catch it again by grabbing it sterically (meaning with shape not chemical reactivity) one can imagine this as the molecule being supersleazy and superfast.
As a sidenote: A light based "nano-camera" isn't possible.
Light has either too long wavelength or it's too energetic and needs too big generation and sensing facilities that are beyond simple nanomechanics.
Energy efficiency
It's also a matter of energy efficiency. Catching a particle from dystactic phase into eutactic phase can "squeeze out" a thermal degree of freedom that contained (according to the equipartitioning theorem) an energy of kBT. Even if that is kept as reversible as possible that energy turnover causes unnecessary losses.
- dystactic to eutactic catching – DOFs are queezed out – heating
- eutactiic to dystactic releasing – DOFs fill up – cooling
Related: entropomechanical converters and Diamondoid heat pumps. There this is done on purpouse.
Furthermore some dystatic phases (liquid and gas phase) also impose viscous drag.
That is in the case of when speeds are enforced are above the (typically quite low) natural diffusion speeds.
Machine phase chemistry
Performing chemistry in machine phase it is called machine phase chemistry or mechanosynthesis. It greatly accelerates reactions rates (compensating lower densities of reaction sites) and one obviously can freely choose where one wants each reaction to occur.
- Nanosystems 1.2.2.a Machine-phase chemistry describes the chemical behavior of machine-phase systems, in which all potentially reactive moieties follow controlled trajectories.
Partial machine phase in biological and diamondoid systems
When a DMME bearing is fixed on an axle but freely allowed to rotate one can think of this as the bearing being only partly in the machine phase. Though not in a strong sense biological systems sometimes operate in machine phase too. Enzymes binding two reactants at the same time and acting like a vibrating hinge (like chattering teeth) that repeatedly bring the reactants together can dramatically increase reaction rates. This is often described as an increase of effective concentration (waybackmachine) (direct link dead).
In the step from technology level 0 to technology level I bigger purely self assembled sturdy structures may start to provide local machine phase.
External Links
Related
- Stiffness & Mechanosynthesis
- solid state
- forced condensation (molecule pick-up into machine phase)
- Mobility prevention guideline
- Trapped free particle
- Machine phase is also called eutactic phase so the opposite is here called dystactic phase
