Casting crystolecules

Here (leave to paper) de-novo proteins are used to regulate the size of CdS nanoscystals. The proteins make a sort of casting shell for the crystal growth defining and delimiting it's shape. Not quite atomically precise but well beyond the capabilities of free space thermodynamically grown nanocrystals. This example is still quite simple and primitive. Casting bigger more complex structures will need improvements on noncyclic termination control for de-novo protein engineering.

Casting crystolecules. Or more accurately "in nano-mold crystallization".
The basic idea here is to use a mold for that inside has surfaces that temlates crystal seed formation
that initiate crystallization but also a compartment with small enough openings that terminate crystal growth (presumably).

This only works for in-solvent-crystallizable gemstones.
In particular clearly excluding diamond and it's hexagonal version lonsdaleite, also likely excluding moissanite and many semiconductor diamondoid structure gemstones.
Some salot of oxoacid gemstones may be viable. Iron based gems like hematite, magnetite, pyrite seem viable.

Questions

• limits on atomic precison in surfaces (and in the interior crystal structure)
• removability of the mold

Nature of the mold

• In early incremental path technology this may protein based molds.
  
• In advanced gem based APM the molds themselves could possibly be made from crystolecules.
  

Size of cast crystolecules

Since achieving atomic precision of surfaces via this approach is questionable
to still get decently well defined shapes somewhat bigger sizes for the hollow casting structures will be needed.
Somewhat bigger than the typical size of crystolecules expectable via force applying mechanosynthesis.
Casting such bigger more complex structures will need improvements on noncyclic termination control for de-novo protein engineering.

Actually noncyclic termination control for de-novo protein engineering
is an obstacle that is generally present of the incremental path.
Particularly for scaling of hierarchical self-assembly to expand the kinematic loop disentangle conflation of concerns
and thereby provide a basis to make starting climbing of the technology levels more feasible.

Related

• Amorphous structures
• Inter technology binding

External links

• Youtube Foresight Institute: 2025 – Amijai Saragovi | Functional Protein-Semiconductor Nanotechnology in Microbial Factories

• Good graphic on nucleation barrier in Gibbs free energy used on German wikipedia: CNT barrier Keimbildung (de)
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nucleation
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_nucleation_theory
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_growth
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibbs_free_energy