(367e) Nanoscale Process Control Engineering

Most of our current chemical technologies are based on control systems geared to the laws of classical physics and chemical kinetics.  Richard Feynman, in his famous 1959 essay “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom,” predicted the unfolding of a whole new era of industrial revolution if we knew how to control the dynamics of individual atoms, molecules and nanostructures – where timescales range from femtoseconds to microseconds. Such systems occupy a unique place in the hierarchy of dynamical systems to which control engineering may be applied, because of the transition that occurs between classical and quantum physical laws. The burgeoning field of nanoscale process control engineering entails the development of methods to steer atomic and molecular dynamics using lasers and other types of coherent inputs, which can exploit the wave-particle duality of matter to access reaction pathways – ranging from selective bond cleavage and rearrangement reactions to coherent energy transfer - and product yields that are impossible via conventional catalytic routes. Whereas nature has evolved sophisticated strategies for manipulating process dynamics on molecular length and timescales – e.g., in the coherent control of photosynthetic solar energy conversion, which is nearly 100% efficient -- our ability to control these process dynamics is only beginning to develop. Realizing the potential of this emerging field, the National Research Council (NRC) has put Controlling the Quantum World at the forefront of its 10-year agenda in atomic and molecular physics and the US Department of Energy (DOE) has based four of its Five Grand Challenges in energy science on nanoscale process control.  This session will aim to introduce the methods of nanoscale process control engineering to the CHE systems community, review important recent developments and identify fruitful synergies for future research.