pokey@well.UUCP (Jef Poskanzer) (12/05/87)
Drexler's sample mechanical nanocomputer uses carbon polymer rods as
linkages. These rods, one atom thick with with double bonds between
each atom, are quite strong. However, unless they are held in a
groove or channel of some kind, they get kinks, so their uses are
limited.
I've got an idea for a different rod that might not get kinks. It's a
hollow cylinder of carbon atoms. Each cross-section is a singly-linked
ring of carbons, and there are also single bonds between the carbons in
adjacent rings. The number of carbons per ring could be varied. Do I
have to draw a diagram? Oh, ok. Here's a short segment of a six atom
per ring rod:
--C-------C-------C--
/ \ / \ / \
/ --C---/---C---/---C--
--C-------C-------C-- |
| --C--|----C--|----C--
--C-------C-------C-- /
\ / \ / \ /
--C-------C-------C--
This would not be a replacement for the doubly-linked rod -- it would
have different uses. For instance, it might work as the above-mentioned
channel, if the doubly-linked rod would fit down the middle. So, my
question is, how stable would this structure be? Do you think a rod
like this would just sit there in, say, water at STP, or would it kink
up and turn into graphite?
---
Jef
Jef Poskanzer jef@lbl-rtsg.arpa ...well!pokey
"Everybody is somebody else's weirdo." -- Dykstra