ABSTRACT

Nanotechnology is very diverse, ranging from extensions of conventional device physics to completely new approaches based upon molecular self-assembly, from developing new materials with dimensions on the nanoscale to direct control of matter on the atomic scale. Nanotechnology entails the application of fields of science as diverse as surface science, organic chemistry, molecular biology, semiconductor physics, microfabrication, etc. Nanotechnology (sometimes shortened to "nanotech") is the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally, nanotechnology deals with developing materials, devices, or other structures possessing at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometres. Quantum The microscopic size of nanomachines translates into high operational speed. This is a result of the natural tendency of all machines and systems to work faster as their size decreases. Nanomachines could be programmed to replicate themselves, or to work synergistically to build larger machines or to construct nanochips. Specialized nanomachines called nanorobots might be designed not only to diagnose, but to treat, disease conditions, perhaps by seeking out invading bacteria and viruses and destroying them. Nanomachines are molecular cell-sized artificial devices or engineered organisms produced by self-assembly or self-replication, capable of performing simple tasks such as actuation and sensing Construction of various nanomachines seems to be entirely within reach of current nano- and bio-technologies . Once constructed and endowed with a certain sensor and actuating abilities communication among nanomachines becomes an important problem. Design of the corresponding molecular mechanism presents a great challenge for nano-technology, biotechnology, and computer science.mechanical effects are important at this quantum-realm scale.

INTRODUCTON
A nanomachine, also called a nanite, is a mechanical or electromechanicalome primitive devices have been tested. An example is a sensor having a switch approximately 1.5 nanometers across, capable of counting specific molecules in a chemical sample. The first useful applications of nanomachines will likely be in medical technology, where they could be used to identify pathogens and toxins from samples of body fluid. Another potential application is the detection of toxic chemicals, and the measurement of their concentrations, in the environment. The microscopic size of nanomachines translates into high operational speed. This is a result of the natural tendency of all machines and systems to work faster as their size decreases. Nanomachines could be programmed to replicate themselves, or to work synergistically to build larger machines or to construct nanochips. Specialized nanomachines called nanorobots might be designed not only to diagnose, but to treat, disease conditions, perhaps by seeking out invading bacteria and viruses and destroying them. Nanomachines are molecular cell-sized artificial devices or engineered organisms produced by self-assembly or self-replication, capable of performing simple tasks such as actuation and sensing Construction of various nanomachines seems to be entirely within reach of current nano- and bio-technologies . Once constructed and endowed with a certain sensor and actuating abilities communication among nanomachines becomes an important problem. Design of the corresponding molecular mechanism presents a great challenge for nano-technology, biotechnology, and computer science. In molecular biology there is an explosively growing eld dealing with molecular communication. Here, the respective research is interested almost exclusively in the (bio)chemical aspects of existing communication mechanisms in biological systems. It seems that almost no attention has been paid to the algorithmic aspects of the respective communication process. Communication at a nanoscale substantially diers from communication scenarios and frameworks known from classicaldistributed systems. Key features of traditional versus molecular communication have been neatly summarized in. In molecular communication, the communication carrier is a molecule; chemical signals are extremely slowly propagated by difusion in an aqueous environment with low energy consumption. In general, it is not necessary that the signal will reach all targets: a majority will do.This is to be compared with traditional communication via electromagnetic waves where electronic or optical signals are propagated at light speed with high energy costs in an airborne medium and message delivery to all targets is required. In what follows we will concentrate onto a scenario in which nanomachines form an autonomous system operating in a closed liquid environment without external control (a similar scenario is also considered in ). The system consists of a finite number of nanomachines freely \oating" in their environment that interact via molecular communication creating thus a kind of ad-hoc network From an algorithmic viewpoint several questions immediately arise within such a system. What protocol is used for molecular communication? What happens if there are more nanomachines com-municating concurrently? Would it be 2

necessary to synchronize them so that one would act as a sender and the other as a receiver? How do we know that a target machine has received a signal? If we allow a finite number of diferent signals (types of molecules) by which the machines can communicate what happens if a machine having several receptors detects diferent signals at diferent receptors at the same time? What happens when a (would be) receiving machine is engaged in sending a signal? What are the computational limits of the underlying system? It is the purpose of the present paper to answer such questions. In order to do so three things are needed: (i) a more detailed algorithmic (computational) model of a nanomachine, (ii) a communication protocol, i.e., an algorithm controlling the communication behavior of each nanomachine, and (iii) a simulation procedure showing the relation of networks of communicating nanomachines to a standard (classical) model of computations whose computational power is known.Our paper is related to the recent research in amorphous computing and population protocols, cf. [10] and [3]. Whereas [10] dealt only with a model of \static" amorphous computer with its processors fixed in the plane, the present paper considers the case of \mobile" amorphous computing.Our results also address the open problem from [3] concerning the power of one-way communication in a model with anonymous agents. We believe that our results also contribute to the problem of how far can one go in \simplifying" the models of distributed universal computation. Our model of one-way communicating timed probabilistic mobile automata seems to represent a kind of the local minimum along these lines. The structure of the paper is as follows. In Section 2 the nanomachine computational model is introduced and it is shown that communication protocols designed in [10] can be also used for the case of molecular communication. In Section 3 a simulation of a counter automaton by nanomachines is shown. Conclusions are described in the closing Section 4. Here the super-Turing computing power of infinite families of sets of communicating timed probabilistic automata is indicated.

Fundamental concept
Nanotechnology is the engineering of functional systems at the molecular scale. This covers both current work and concepts that are more advanced. In its original sense, nanotechnology refers to the projected ability to construct items from the bottom up, using techniques and tools being developed today to make complete, high performance products. One nanometer (nm) is one billionth, or 109, of a meter. By comparison, typical carbon-carbon bond lengths, or the spacing between these atoms in a molecule, are in the range 0.120.15 nm, and a DNA double-helix has a diameter around 2 nm. On the other hand, the smallest cellular life-forms, the bacteria of the genus Mycoplasma, are around 200 nm in length. By convention, nanotechnology is taken as the scale range 1 to 100 nm following the definition used by the National Nanotechnology Initiative in the US. The lower limit is set by the size of atoms (hydrogen has the smallest atoms, which are approximately a quarter of a nm diameter) since nanotechnology must build its devices from atoms and molecules. The upper limit is more or less arbitrary but is around the size that phenomena not observed in larger structures start to become apparent and can be made use of in the nano device.[10] These new phenomena make nanotechnology distinct from devices which are merely miniaturised versions of an equivalent macroscopic device; such devices are on a larger scale and come under the description of microtechnology.[11] To put that scale in another context, the comparative size of a nanometer to a meter is the same as that of a marble to the size of the earth.[12] Or another way of putting it: a nanometer is the amount an average man's beard grows in the time it takes him to raise the razor to his face.[12] Two main approaches are used in nanotechnology. In the "bottom-up" approach, materials and devices are built from molecular components which assemble themselves chemically by principles of molecular recognition. In the "top-down" approach, nano-objects are constructed from larger entities without atomic-level control.[13] Areas of physics such as nanoelectronics, nanomechanics, nanophotonics and nanoionics have evolved during the last few decades to provide a basic scientific foundation of nanotechnology.

Larger to smaller: a materials perspective

Image of reconstruction on a clean Gold(100) surface, as visualized using scanning tunneling microscopy. The positions of the individual atoms composing the surface are visible. Main article: Nanomaterials A number of physical phenomena become pronounced as the size of the system decreases. These include statistical mechanical effects, as well as quantum mechanical effects, for example the quantum size effect where the electronic properties of solids are altered with great reductions in particle size. This effect does not come into play by going from macro to micro dimensions. However, quantum effects become dominant when the nanometer size range is reached, typically at distances of 100 nanometers or less, the so called quantum realm. Additionally, a number of physical (mechanical, electrical, optical, etc.) properties change when compared to macroscopic systems. One example is the increase in surface area to volume ratio altering mechanical, thermal and catalytic properties of materials. Diffusion and reactions at nanoscale, nanostructures materials and nanodevices with fast ion transport are generally referred to nanoionics. Mechanical properties of nanosystems are of interest in the nanomechanics research. The catalytic activity of nanomaterials also opens potential risks in their interaction with biomaterials. Materials reduced to the nanoscale can show different properties compared to what they exhibit on a macroscale, enabling unique applications. For instance, opaque substances become transparent (copper); stable materials turn combustible (aluminum); insoluble materials become soluble (gold). A material such as gold, which is chemically inert at normal scales, can serve as a potent chemical catalyst at nanoscales. Much of the fascination with nanotechnology stems from these quantum and surface phenomena that matter exhibits at the nanoscale.[14]

NANOMACHINES AND NANODEVICES

The construction of new types of devices has always been crucial for the development of our civilization. Inventors derived inspiration and knowledge from examples found in nature, and the evolution of device design and construction progressed accordingly. In the modern world, new demands for miniaturization of existing macro-objects are driven by economical progress. In this quest, the nanoscale is the ultimate goal.The ultidisciplinary fields of theoretical and applied sciences that study this development have been termed nanotechnology. Here, the ultimate goal is the control of matter at the molecular level, normally 1 to 100 nanometers and the fabrication of devices at this scale.1 With this respect, nanomachines are mechanical devices of molecular dimensions operating at the nanoscale.In nanotechnology research one tries to understand how they operate in order to implement them for construction of various mechanical systems within nanodimensions.2 This implies future applications in a variety of areas with a great importance for humanity: medicine, computer and space engineering, etc.At the macroscopic scale, a typical device represents a piece of equipment or mechanism which is designed to serve a particular purpose or to perform a special function. A machine implies any device, which requires energy in order to carry out or assist in performing of any type of work. Normally, a device is considered as an assembly comprising several components, each of which is intended to carry out a certain function. While individual operative component acts independently and performs some simple task, the assembly of them enables more complex task to be carry out. For example, the function of a table lamp can be considered as a result of operations performed by their components: an on-off switch button and a light emitting center, which are connected together as well as to an energy source by means of wires in appropriate manner. In a similar way, the anomachines can be described as systems comprising a certain number of molecular components, which are intended to provide a specific function in response to a set of instruction.2 Likewise, derived ultimately in such a way molecular robots are envisioned to be created for performing controlled nanoscale manipulations During the evolution of nano manufacturing, it has become evident that the design of nanodevices should address three important issues.4 The first issue concerns the appropriate manner of iniaturization. In general terms, the dimensions of a certain device can be adjusted in two distinctive approaches which are opposite to each other Reducing in size is reached in top-down approach and according to the levels of current technological progress, only (sub-)micro-sized devices can be produced from larger object In the alternative approach termed bottom-up, the fabrication of nanodevices architectures is achieved by means of gradual increase in dimensions upon connection of starting molecular building blocks. In this way, application of synthetic methods opens almost unlimited possibilities for engineering and production of assemblies of certain dimensions via covalent or non-covalent connections between subunits, especially exploiting developments in macromolecular and supramolecular chemistry.

The bottom-up (supramolecular) approach to nanodevices

In everyday life we make extensive use of devices. A device is something invented and constructed for a special purpose. More specifically, it is an assembly of components designed to achieve a specific function, resulting from the cooperation of the (simple) acts performed by each component. A machine is a particular type of device in which the component parts display changes in their relative positions as a result of some external stimulus. Depending on the purpose of its use, a device can be very big or very small. In the last fifty years, progressive miniaturization of the components employed for the construction of devices and machines has resulted in outstanding technological achievements, particularly in the field of information processing. A common prediction is that further progress in miniaturization will not only decrease the size and increase the power of computers, but could also open the way to new technologies in the fields of medicine, environment, energy, and materials. Until now miniaturization has been pursued by a large-downward (top-down) approach, which is reaching practical and fundamental limits (presumably about 50 nm) . Miniaturization, however, can be pushed further on since there is plenty of room at the bottom,as Richard Feynman stated in a famous talk to the American Physical Society in 1959 . The key sentence of Feynmans talk was the following: The principle of physics do not speak against the possibility of manoeuvring things atom by atom. The idea of the atom-by-atom bottom-up approach to the construction of nanoscale devices and machines, however, which was so much appealing to some people [3, 4] did not convince chemists who are well aware of the high reactivity of most atomic species and of the subtle aspects of chemical bond. Atoms are not spheres that can be moved from a place to another place at will [5]. They do not stay isolated, but rather bind strongly to their neighbours, and it is difficult to imagine that individual atoms can be taken from a starting material and transferred to another material. In the 1980s, in the frame of research on supramolecular chemistry [6, 7], the idea began to arise in a few laboratories [810] that molecules are much more convenient building blocks than atoms to construct nanoscale devices and machines. The main reasons at the basis of this idea are: (i) molecules are stable species, whereas atoms are difficult to handle; (ii) Nature starts from molecules, not from atoms, to construct the great number and variety of nanodevices and nanomachines that sustain life; (iii) most of the laboratory chemical processes deal with molecules, not with atoms; (iv) molecules are objects that exhibit distinct shapes and carry device-related properties (e.g. properties that can be manipulated by photochemical and electrochemical inputs); (v) molecules can self-assemble or can be connected to make larger structures. In the same period, research on molecular electronic devices began to flourish [1113]. In the following years it became clear that the bottom-up approach based on molecules opens virtually unlimited possibilities concerning design and construction of artificial molecular devices and machines. The concept of molecules as nanoscale objects exhibiting their own shape, size and 7

properties has been confirmed by new, very powerful techniques, such as single-molecule fluorescence spectroscopy [14, 15] and the various types of probe microscopies [16], capable of visualizing or manipulating single molecules [17], and even to investigate bimolecular chemical reactions at the single molecule level [18]. Much of the inspiration to construct molecular devices and machines comes from the outstanding progress of molecular biology that has begun to reveal the secrets of the natural nanodevices which constitute the material base of life [19]. The bottom-up construction of devices as complex as those present in Nature is, of course, a prohibitive task. Therefore chemists have tried to construct much simpler systems, consisting of a few molecular components capable of moving in a controllable way, without mimicking the complexity of the biological structures, and to investigate the challenging problems posed by interfacing artificial molecular devices with the macroscopic world, particularly as far as energy supply and information exchange are concerned. In the last few years the development of powerful synthetic methodologies, combined with a device-driven ingenuity evolved from the attention to functions and reactivity, have led to remarkable achievements in this field [2025].

BOTTOM AND APPROACH

These seek to arrange smaller components into more complex assemblies.

DNA nanotechnology utilizes the specificity of WatsonCrick basepairing to construct well-defined structures out of DNA and other nucleic acids. Approaches from the field of "classical" chemical synthesis (inorganic and organic synthesis) also aim at designing molecules with well-defined shape (e.g. bis-peptides[24]). More generally, molecular self-assembly seeks to use concepts of supramolecular chemistry, and molecular recognition in particular, to cause single-molecule components to arrange themselves into some useful conformation. Atomic force microscope tips can be used as a nanoscale "write head" to deposit a chemical upon a surface in a desired pattern in a process called dip pen nanolithography. This technique fits into the larger subfield of nanolithography.

Top-down approache
These seek to create smaller devices by using larger ones to direct their assembly.

Many technologies that descended from conventional solid-state silicon methods for fabricating microprocessors are now capable of creating features smaller than 100 nm, falling under the definition of nanotechnology. Giant magnetoresistance-based hard drives already on the market fit this description,as do atomic layer deposition (ALD) techniques. Peter Grnberg and Albert Fert received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2007 for their discovery of Giant magnetoresistance and contributions to the field of spintronics. Solid-state techniques can also be used to create devices known as nanoelectromechanical systems or NEMS, which are related to microelectromechanical systems or MEMS. Focused ion beams can directly remove material, or even deposit material when suitable pre-cursor gasses are applied at the same time. For example, this technique is used routinely to create sub-100 nm sections of material for analysis in Transmission electron microscopy. Atomic force microscope tips can be used as a nanoscale "write head" to deposit a resist, which is then followed by an etching process to remove material in a top-down method.

Functional approaches
These seek to develop components of a desired functionality without regard to how they might be assembled.

Molecular scale electronics seeks to develop molecules with useful electronic properties. These could then be used as single-molecule components in a nanoelectronic device.[27] For an example see rotaxane. Synthetic chemical methods can also be used to create synthetic molecular motors, such as in a so-called nanocar.

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NANOMACHINE CHALLENGE
Visionary physicist Richard Feynman, in his prescient 1959 Caltech speech Theres Plenty of Room at the Bottom, issued a public challenge and a thousand-dollar prize to the first person to create an electrical motor smaller than one sixty-fourth of an inch.[1] Soon thereafter, and much to Feynmans surprise, William McLellan built such a tiny motor tediously yet meticulously by hand using just an optical microscope and fine tweezers. Since Feynmans prophetic speech, pertinent questions about tiny motors and machines, invisible to the naked eye, include: How small can they be and still function?What external or internal energy sources can be used to drive them? What are the forces responsible for the locomotion? What power can they generate? Finally, what tasks can they undertake? In this Research News paper, we will take a brief look at how the field has evolved post-McLellan and what the future holds for these tiny mechanical contraptions.

MEMS and NEMS

The FeynmanMcLellan episode seems to have inspired research into microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), a field that emerged in the mid-eighties. This led to the development of micromotors orders-of-magnitude smaller than McLellans handmade creation. They are now being mass produced to manufacture fascinating products, such as digital projectors composed of millions of electrically driven micromirrors and airbags in automobiles deployed by micromotion sensors. MEMS, an integration of topdown semiconductor processing and engineering physics, enables tiny machines to be sculpted from smaller components on the scale of millimeters to micrometers. These subfields seek to anticipate what inventions nanotechnology might yield, or attempt to propose an agenda along which inquiry might progress. These often take a big-picture view of nanotechnology, with more emphasis on its societal implications than the details of how such inventions could actually be created.

Molecular nanotechnology is a proposed approach which involves manipulating single molecules in finely controlled, deterministic ways. This is more theoretical than the other subfields and is beyond current capabilities. Nanorobotics centers on self-sufficient machines of some functionality operating at the nanoscale. There are hopes for applying nanorobots in medicine,[29][30][31] but it may not be easy to do such a thing because of several drawbacks of such devices.[32] Nevertheless, progress on innovative materials and methodologies has been demonstrated with some 11

patents granted about new nanomanufacturing devices for future commercial applications,

NATURES BIONANOMACHINES
We see self-assembly at work in Natures impressive biomolecular motors and machines that manufacture and transport biochemicals in the cytoplasm and provide motility to cells.[4,5] A classic example of a biomolecule factory is the ribosome, an RNA and protein composite that uses a temporary transcript in the form of messenger RNA to assemble proteins from amino acids, which can then proceed to other tasks. An impressive case of biological locomotion is the kinesin protein, a linear processive motor that transports chemical payloads along microtubules in the cell.

ARTIFICIAL BIONANOMACHINES
One approach to create artificial bionanomachines is to transfer biotechnology from Nature and integrate biomolecules with man-made nanostructures. Inspired by the flagella rotary motor, a hybrid bionanochemomechanical rotary device has been assembled from ATP synthase and a nickel propeller. ATP synthase, also called ATPase, is an assembly of proteins anchored in the cell lipid bilayer responsible for the synthesis of ATP, the biological energy currency, and is powered by a proton gradient across the membrane created by nearby proton pumps. Every time an ATP molecule is synthesized, the head of ATPase rotates by 120, making this protein a very small and very efficient nanopropeller. Inspired by this ability, ATPase has been chemically anchored via a histidine linkage on its underside to a lithographically defined nanoscale nickel pillar on a substrate, and via a biotinstreptavidin linkage on its topside to a nanoscale nickel propeller, also made by lithography. ATP synthase is the ubiquitous enzyme that manufactures adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and is a rotary motor powered by a proton gradient. It consists of two rotary molecular motors attached to a common shaft, each attempting to rotate in the opposite direction (figure 1). The F1 motor uses the free energy of ATP hydrolysis to rotate in one direction, while the F0 motor

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Figure 1. Schematic representation of the structure of F0F1-ATP synthase. uses the energy stored in a transmembrane electrochemical gradient to turn in the opposite direction. Which motor wins (i.e., develops more torque) depends on cellular conditions. When F0 takes over, which is the normal situation, it drives the F1 motor in reverse whereupon itsynthesizes ATP from its constituents, adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and inorganic phosphate,Pi. When F1 dominates, it hydrolyzes ATP and drives the F0 motor in reverse, turning it into an ion pump that moves ions across the membrane against the electrochemical gradient. The mechanochemistry of ATP synthase has been studied in great detail and new structural information continue to appear . This enzyme consists of two principal domains (figure 1). The asymmetric membranespanning F0 portion contains a proton channel, and the soluble F1 portion contains three catalytic sites which cooperate in the synthetic reactions. The catalytic region is made up of nine protein subunits with the stoichiometry 3:3:1 :1:1, approximating to a flattened sphere, 10 nm across and 8 nm high. The flow of protons through F0 generates a torque which is transmitted to F1 by an asymmetric shaft, the -subunit. This subunit acts as a rotating camwithin F1, sequentially releasing ATPs from the three active sites. The free energy difference across the inner membrane of mitochondria and bacteria is sufficient to produce three ATPs per twelve protons passing through the motor.

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As mentioned above, the F0F1-ATP synthase is reversible, i.e., the full enzyme can synthesize or hydrolyze ATP; F1 in isolation, however, can only hydrolyze it. The spinning of F1-ATP synthase, i.e., the rotary motor nature of this enzyme was directly observed by attaching a fluorescent actin filament to the subunit as a marker. Further data on motor rotation were obtained from other experiments carried out on single molecules of ATP synthase . The enzymes of the myosin and the kinesin families are linear motors that move along polymer substrates (actin filaments for myosin and microtubules for kinesin), converting the energy of ATP hydrolysis into mechanical work. Motion derives from a mechanochemical cycle, during which the motor protein binds to successive sites along the substrate in such a way as to move forward on average. Several other biological processes are based on motions, including protein folding and unfolding. Another example is RNA polymerase, which moves along DNA while carrying out transcriptions, thus acting as a molecular motor. Suitable engineering of natural molecular motors and/or integration of motor proteins within artificial nanodevices has also been obtained , thereby opening up the possibility of building functional hybrid devices. For space reasons, the basic principles and operation mechanisms of these molecular motors cannot be discussed in detail here, and the reader should refer to the cited references.

AUTONOMOUS SELF-ASSEMBLY
Self-assembling synthetic systems are usually built by chemically pre-programming components to form a specific structure. But what if we provide the components with autonomous movement capabilities? This idea was demonstrated using chemically powered, asymmetrically shaped macroscale objects sculpted from polydimethylsiloxane, endowed with hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions. They float at an air/water interface and can self-assemble through capillary interactions.Platinum was applied to these objects at a specificlocation, and, when floated on an aqueous solution of hydrogen peroxide, the surface-catalyzed evolution of oxygen from the platinum propelled the objects, causing them to move about and collide. Through complimentary hydrophobic interactions, these chemically driven colliding objects formed dimers bearing two platinum motors. Isomers of a like kind formed dimers with motors at opposite ends and looped around at the air/water interface. In contrast, isomers of the opposite kind formed mirror-image dimers with motors at the same end and displayed linear motion Some of the most dramatic recent examples of synthetic nanomachines, some with moving parts, are based upon creative devices made of carbon nanotubes, metal, or semiconductor nanowires, and mainly driven by an electrical source of energy. An exception is a nanoscale thermometer based on a single-walled carbon nanotube that converts thermal energy into expansion of a nanocolumn of liquid gallium imbibed within the body of the nanotube, thereby registering temperature. A nanorotor based on a suspended-beam carbon nanotube and an attached silicon nanoplate between two electrodes converts electrical energy into rotary motion of the plate.Such tiny rotors might find utility as nanoscale stirrers for agitating liquids in confined spaces like microchannels, or near electrode 14

surfaces to enhance diffusion processes, or as optical switches for directing light beams. A metal nanowire, suspended in a droplet of water located between microelectrodes having a specific geometry to which alternating current voltages with a particular frequency and phase are applied, has been undergo linear and rotary types of motion.The force responsible for the locomotion is dielectrophoresis, which arises from the interaction between the polarized conduction electrons in the nanowire and the applied electric field. Velocity, rotation speed, rotation sense, and degree of rotation of the nanowires are all under electrical control. Magnetic and non-magnetic nanowires and carbon nanotubes have been manipulated in this way, moving freely in solution and chemically anchored to a substrate. Also, a micromotor based upon the movement of a dust particle by a bent, rotating metal nanowire was demonstrated.

BASIC FEATURES OF NANOMACHINES AND ROBOTS

Specifically placed atoms Each atom is purposeful Very small, often less than 20 nm in diameter and less than100nm in length They must perform a function Most require energy to perform works

APPROACHES OF COMMUNICATION
Intracellular communication Intercellular communication Intracellular Communication Transport materials using molecular motors within a cell

Intercellular communication Cells coordinate through calcium signaling

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Main articles: Nanocircuitry and nanolithography For example, single electron transistors, which involve transistor operation based on a single electron. Nanoelectromechanical systems also fall under this category. Nanofabrication can be used to construct ultradense parallel arrays of nanowires, as an alternative to synthesizing nanowires individually.

Nanomaterials electronics
Besides being small and allowing more transistors to be packed into a single chip, the uniform and symmetrical structure of nanotubes allows a higher electron mobility (faster electron movement in the material), a higher dielectric constant (faster frequency), and a symmetrical electron/hole characteristic.Also, nanoparticles can be used as quantum dots.

Molecular electronics
Main article: Molecular scale electronics Single molecule devices are another possibility. These schemes would make heavy use of molecular self-assembly, designing the device components to construct a larger structure or even a complete system on their own. This can be very useful for reconfigurable computing, and may even completely replace present FPGA technology. Molecular electronics is a new technology which is still in its infancy, but also brings hope for truly atomic scale electronic systems in the future. One of the more promising applications of molecular electronics was proposed by the IBM researcher Ari Aviram and the theoretical chemist Mark Ratner in their 1974 and 1988 papers Molecules for Memory, Logic and Amplification, (see Unimolecular rectifier). This is one of many possible ways in which a molecular level diode / transistor might be synthesized by organic chemistry. A model system was proposed with a spiro carbon structure giving a molecular diode about half a nanometre across which could be connected by polythiophene molecular wires. Theoretical calculations showed the design to be sound in principle and there is still hope that such a system can be made to work.

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Other approaches
Nanoionics studies the transport of ions rather than electrons in nanoscale systems. Nanophotonics studies the behavior of light on the nanoscale, and has the goal of developing devices that take advantage of this behavior.

Nanoelectronic devices
Radios
Nanoradios have been developed structured around carbon nanotubes.

Computers
Simulation result for formation of inversion channel (electron density) and attainment of threshold voltage (IV) in a nanowire MOSFET. Note that the threshold voltage for this device lies around 0.45V. Nanoelectronics holds the promise of making computer processors more powerful than are possible with conventional semiconductor fabrication techniques. A number of approaches are currently being researched, including new forms of nanolithography, as well as the use of nanomaterials such as nanowires or small molecules in place of traditional CMOS components. Field effect transistors have been made using both semiconducting carbon nanotubes and with heterostructured semiconductor nanowires.

Energy production
Research is ongoing to use nanowires and other nanostructured materials with the hope to create cheaper and more efficient solar cells than are possible with conventional planar silicon solar cells. It is believed that the invention of more efficient solar energy would have a great effect on satisfying global energy needs. There is also research into energy production for devices that would operate in vivo, called bionano generators. A bio-nano generator is a nanoscale electrochemical device, like a fuel cell or 17

galvanic cell, but drawing power from blood glucose in a living body, much the same as how the body generates energy from food. To achieve the effect, an enzyme is used that is capable of stripping glucose of its electrons, freeing them for use in electrical devices. The average person's body could, theoretically, generate 100 watts of electricity (about 2000 food calories per day) using a bio-nano generator. However, this estimate is only true if all food was converted to electricity, and the human body needs some energy consistently, so possible power generated is likely much lower. The electricity generated by such a device could power devices embedded in the body (such as pacemakers), or sugar-fed nanorobots. Much of the research done on bio-nano generators is still experimental, with Panasonic's Nanotechnology Research Laboratory among those at the forefront.

Medical diagnostics
There is great interest in constructing nanoelectronic devices that could detect the concentrations of biomolecules in real time for use as medical diagnostics, thus falling into the category of nanomedicine. A parallel line of research seeks to create nanoelectronic devices which could interact with single cells for use in basic biological research. These devices are called nanosensors. Such miniaturization on nanoelectronics towards in vivo proteomic sensing should enable new approaches for health monitoring, surveillance, and defense technology.

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APPLICATIONS
1. Pinpoint drug delivery To deliver drug to (targeted) cancer cells 2. Molecular computing Coordination among distributed logical gates

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CONCLUSION
It has been stated that network protocols increasingly rely on the use of randomness and timing delay. This has also been the case of communicating nanomachines where randomness and timing had played the crucial role in the design of the basic communication protocol. The underlying computational model|probabilistic timed nite state automata|have increasingly often been used in modelling and analyzing of non-uniform complex systems which make use of intensive communica- tion among their components. Such systems frequently arise in computer networks, electronic devices and biological organisms. In these applications, the probabilistic timed automata are mainly used for formally capturing the computational behavior of the underlying systems and eventually enabling a formal (even automatic) verication of systems' correctness. So far it seems that in the computability or computational complexity theory systems of probabilistic timed communicating automata have not been considered as a universal computational model. The current paper shows that it is worth to do so: the resulting model is among the simplest ones as far as the simplicity of its components and its potential for its realization by various means, most notably by nanotechnologies, is concerned. The computational universality of communicating nanomachines oer yet an other example of a nonuniform computational model that is captured by the so-called Extended Turing Machine Paradigm coined by van Leeuwen and Wiedermann , claiming that \A computational process is any process whose evolution over time can be captured by evolving automata or, equivalently, by interactive Turing machines with advice." Obviously, for each input of size n a multiset of timed probabilistic automata can be simulated by a Turing machine with advice which for each n returns the clocks of the simulated automata; the value of these clocks depends only on the input length. In this context it is amusing to observe that the clock give our set of communicating timed automata super-Turing computing power. Namely, for each n there exists (but cannot be computed) a clock that stops only after the time consumed by the longest computation, taken over all Turing machines of size n and all inputs of size at most n; is exhausted. An innite family of sets of communicating timed probabilistic automata equipped by such clock (one set and one clock for each n) could then solve the halting problem.

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REFRENCE
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