How fast and powerful can computers become? Will it be possible someday to create artificial brains that have intellectual capabilities comparable to those of human beings? The answers to these questions depend to a very great extent on a single factor: how small and dense we can make computer circuits. Very recently, scientists have achieved revolutionary advances that may very well radically change the future of computing. There are significant advantages to using biological molecules in a new computational paradigm, since nature has solved similar problems to those encountered in harnessing organic molecules to perform data manipulation. Biomolecules could be used as photonic devices in holography, as spatial light modulators, in neural network optical computing, as nonlinear optical devices, and as optical memories. Such computers may use a billion times less energy than electronic computers, while storing data in a trillionth of the space, while also being highly parallel. Research projects implemented by national and international groups have produced a large amount of data from multidisciplinary work, ranging from physics and engineering to chemistry and biology.

The dream of developing a biocomputer should not be dismissed as a sheer fantasy. Although there is naturally some doubt as to whether it is possible to design a computer using carbon-based components as in living organisms, instead of silicon-based components as in existing computers, the fact that an average brain often outperforms the most sophisticated computer in terms of the complexity of tasks, if not in terms of speed, is a living testimony to this possibility. The remaining question is to what extent a biocomputer can mimic a living organism and whether it is possible to design and fabri cate such a biocomputer within the foreseeable future. This volume does not attempt to provide immediate and exact answers to these questions but instead attempts to provide a vision and a progress report of the initial efforts. This volume is mainly a collection of papers presented at the Symposium on Molecular Electronics - Biosensors and Biocomputers, sponsored by the Divi sion of Biotechnology, Health and Environment of the Fine Particle Society, held from July 19-22, 1989 at the Society's 19th Annual Meeting in Santa Clara, California. Also included are articles contributed by those who planned to attend the conference but were unable to do so. The emergence of the field of molecular electronics is largely the consequence of one person's crusade, that of Forrest L. Carter.

Synergy is the key to creating more intelligent biosensors. Engineers develop smaller, more integrated technologies; biologists and chemists develop increasingly selective and sensitive sensor elements; material scientists develop ways to bring it all together. However, most books focus only on the chemistry aspects of biosensor technologies. With

There are fundamental and technological limits of conventional microfabrication and microelectronics. Scaling down conventional devices and attempts to develop novel topologies and architectures will soon be ineffective or unachievable at the device and system levels to ensure desired performance. Forward-looking experts continue to search for new paradigms to carry the field beyond the age of microelectronics, and molecular electronics is one of the most promising candidates. The Nano and Molecular Electronics Handbook surveys the current state of this exciting, emerging field and looks toward future developments and opportunities. Molecular and Nano Electronics Explained Explore the fundamentals of device physics, synthesis, and design of molecular processing platforms and molecular integrated circuits within three-dimensional topologies, organizations, and architectures as well as bottom-up fabrication utilizing quantum effects and unique phenomena. Technology in Progress Stay current with the latest results and practical solutions realized for nanoscale and molecular electronics as well as biomolecular electronics and memories. Learn design concepts, device-level modeling, simulation methods, and fabrication technologies used for today's applications and beyond. Reports from the Front Lines of Research Expert innovators discuss the results of cutting-edge research and provide informed and insightful commentary on where this new paradigm will lead. The Nano and Molecular Electronics Handbook ranks among the most complete and authoritative guides to the past, present, and future of this revolutionary area of theory and technology.

Based on the success of the first edition, this second edition continues to build upon fundamental principles of biosensor design and incorporates recent advances in intelligent materials and novel fabrication techniques for a broad range of real world applications. The book provides a multi-disciplinary focus to capture the ever-expanding field of biosensors. Smart Biosensor Technology, Second Edition includes contributions from leading specialists in a wide variety of fields with a common focus on smart biosensor design. With 21 chapters organized in five parts, this compendium covers the fundamentals of smart biosensor technology, important issues related to material design and selection, principles of biosensor design and fabrication, advances in bioelectronics, and a look at specific applications related to pathogen detection, toxicity monitoring, microfluidics and healthcare. Features Provides a solid background in the underlying principles of biosensor design and breakthrough technologies for creating more intelligent biosensors Focusses on material design and selection including cutting-edge developments in carbon nanotubes, polymer nanowires, and porous silicon Examines machine learning and introduces concepts such as DNA-based molecular computing for smart biosensor function Explores the principles of bioelectronics and nerve cell microelectrode arrays for creating novel transducers and physiological biosensors Devotes several chapters to biosensors developed to detect and monitor a variety of toxins and pathogens Offers expert opinions on the future directions, challenges and opportunities in the field

How fast and powerful can computers become? Will it be possible someday to create artificial brains that have intellectual capabilities comparable to those of human beings? The answers to these questions depend to a very great extent on a single factor: how small and dense we can make computer circuits. Very recently, scientists have achieved revolutionary advances that may very well radically change the future of computing. There are significant advantages to using biological molecules in a new computational paradigm, since nature has solved similar problems to those encountered in harnessing organic molecules to perform data manipulation. Biomolecules could be used as photonic devices in holography, as spatial light modulators, in neural network optical computing, as nonlinear optical devices, and as optical memories. Such computers may use a billion times less energy than electronic computers, while storing data in a trillionth of the space, while also being highly parallel. Research projects implemented by national and international groups have produced a large amount of data from multidisciplinary work, ranging from physics and engineering to chemistry and biology.

The Handbook of Chemical and Biological Sensors focuses on the development of sensors to recognize substances rather than physical quantities. This fully inclusive book examines devices that use a biological sensing element to detect and measure chemical and biological species as well as those that use a synthetic element to achieve a similar result. A first port of call for anyone with a specific interest, question, or problem relating to this area, this comprehensive source of reference serves as a guide for practicing scientists and as a text for many graduate courses. It presents relevant physics to chemists, chemistry to materials scientists, materials science to electronic engineers, and fabrication technology to all of the above. In addition, the handbook is useful both to newcomers and to experienced researchers who wish to broaden their knowledge of the constituent disciplines of this wide-ranging field.

Did you know that computation can be implemented with cytoskeleton networks, chemical reactions, liquid marbles, plants, polymers and dozens of other living and inanimate substrates? Do you know what is reversible computing or a DNA microscopy? Are you aware that randomness aids computation? Would you like to make logical circuits from enzymatic reactions? Have you ever tried to implement digital logic with Minecraft? Do you know that eroding sandstones can compute too?This volume reviews most of the key attempts in coming up with an alternative way of computation. In doing so, the authors show that we do not need computers to compute and we do not need computation to infer. It invites readers to rethink the computer and computing, and appeals to computer scientists, mathematicians, physicists and philosophers. The topics are presented in a lively and easily accessible manner and make for ideal supplementary reading across a broad range of subjects.

Nanotechnology has received tremendous interest over the last decade, not only from the scientific community but also from a business perspective and from the general public. Although nanotechnology is still at the largely unexplored frontier of science, it has the potential for extremely exciting technological innovations that will have an enormous impact on areas as diverse as information technology, medicine, energy supply and probably many others. The miniturization of devices and structures will impact the speed of devices and information storage capacity. More importantly, though, nanotechnology should lead to completely new functional devices as nanostructures have fundamentally different physical properties that are governed by quantum effects. When nanometer sized features are fabricated in materials that are currently used in electronic, magnetic, and optical applications, quantum behavior will lead to a set of unprecedented properties. The interactions of nanostructures with biological materials are largely unexplored. Future work in this direction should yield enabling technologies that allows the study and direct manipulation of biological processes at the (sub) cellular level.

This report surveys opportunities for future Army applications in biotechnology, including sensors, electronics and computers, materials, logistics, and medical therapeutics, by matching commercial trends and developments with enduring Army requirements. Several biotechnology areas are identified as important for the Army to exploit, either by direct funding of research or by indirect influence of commercial sources, to achieve significant gains in combat effectiveness before 2025.