Self-assembly. Self-assembly is nature's favorite way of building things. Simply create materials that naturally combine with each other in desired ways. Self-assembled monolayers, which we have already mentioned, are a simple example.
Self-assembly typifies an approach that is often mentioned in writings on nanotechnology, the bottom-up approach. Assembling a car engine, say, from its components is a bottom-up approach (although not an example of self-assembly) and involves little wastage. Machining some of the components out of blocks of material is a top-down approach, and involves more wastage.
Self-assembly potentially offers huge economies, and is considered to have great potential in nanoelectronics for this reason and because it could produce just about the densest electronics feasible. It is a part of some of the promising approaches to making molecular memory that may bear fruit in a few years. Tackling processors is another matter, however, because of the greater complexity involved? In this area self-assembly will likely be combined initially with some more traditional top-down approach, for example, getting molecular components to self-assemble on a patterned substrate in some sort of hybrid system, which many believe will represent the first commercialization of nanoelectronics.
A drawback of self-assembly approaches to date is that they are not that reliable and the results have a much higher rate of variability (read flaws) way to get around this is to design software that takes account of the flaws and allows imperfect circuitry to operate reliably, through testing and selection of viable components. than we are accustomed to with lithographic approaches.
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