Matter Machines

Abstract: Imagine the next generation of matter as reconfigurable at the command of computers.  To meet a specific technological requirement, a computer algorithm designs the material’s microstructure, and its own constituents, micron-sized robots, restructure themselves to take on an optimized state.  My talk is a blueprint to realize this vision of active matter:  I explain how to design materials with computer algorithms and how to build cell-sized machines. I will show how algorithms, created specifically for materials science, can design everything from the particle shape that minimizes the density of sand, to polymers that can be used to maximize the density of lithographic pattern features. To make matter that can reconfigure in the lab, instead of on the computer, I present a platform for building micron-sized robots that can function as the constituent elements of a material. I will show how an actuator made from graphene and glass enables cell-sized machines.  Machines made through this actuator can change shape in fractions of a second while responding to environmental cues, carry electronics, and be fabricated en mass using standard semiconductor processing techniques. I discuss how, individually, materials design algorithms and nanorobots can reshape fields ranging from bio-electronic interfaces to optimal self-assembly.  Yet viewed as two parts of the same platform, these ideas promise a new breed of matter that is adaptable, self-sensing, and precisely designed to fulfill the even most incredible technological demands.