MRFM White Papers
DSO/ARO: Program for
Achieving Single Nuclear Spin Detection DSO/ARO: Program for Achieving
Single Nuclear Spin Detection (PDF
download).IBM also maintains an excellent MRFM page.
When Freeman Dyson retired from the Institute for Advanced Study on April 9, 1994, he invited several lecturers to speak on the general theme Around the Dyson Sphere. One of these lectures attempted to foresee the future of MRFM. Today, nine years later, this lecture makes sobering reading, mainly for medical-related reasons that are set forth below.
Entitled High Resolution Magnetic Resonance Imaging, the 1994 lecture was mainly right in foreseeing the engineering and scientific challenges that the MRFM community was to encounter in the coming years. Like the gravity wave community (see, e.g., the LIGO Project), the MRFM community has struggled to master the high-level engineering and program management that turns quantum physics into practical hardware.
It is well-known to historians of technology that, usually, such engineering struggles are more challenging than the scientists initially foresee. A good case study is the turbulent, yet ultimately successful, technical history of the Atomichron, which gave rise to today's GPS technology.
Fortunately, MRFM technology enjoys a favorable "Moore scaling" that has largely counterbalanced these engineering challenges. Like semiconductor devices, MRFM devices work better as they are made smaller and colder. Thanks largely to this favorable scaling, MRFM sensitivity has (roughly) doubled every year since 1994.
To borrow an optimistic phrase from Lincoln -- a phrase that reflects an optimism that is broadly embraced by the science and engineering community:
The progress of our [science and engineering], upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public as to ourselves, and it is, we trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all.
On behalf of the MRFM community, we thank the NIH, the NSF, the IBM Corporation, and DARPA for making this progress possible.
The 1994 MRFM lecture also talked about the struggle against global HIV infection. Since the beginning of MRFM this has been one of the main motivations for the development of MRFM technology. No one foresaw for this struggle the magnitude or the duration which it has already attained (to borrow another Lincoln phrase).
Now the overwhelming scale of the tragedy is obvious, and US Secretary of State Colin Powell has issued a call to action:
If humankind is to realize the great potential that the 21st century holds for prosperity and peace, the global response to this crisis must be no less comprehensive, no less relentless and no less swift than the AIDS pandemic itself.In many countries, an entire generation can be lost and the next generation orphaned. That would be an unimaginable human tragedy and an international catastrophe. AIDS not only destroys lives, it decimates countries and it destabilizes regions. The international community must not let that happen.
Each of us must be a leader in the global fight against HIV/AIDS. And I expect and hope each and every one of you will do your part.
This modern call to action builds upon the solid foundation laid in 1947 and 1953 by another US Commander-in-Chief, George C. Marshall:
Our policy is directed not against any country or doctrine but against hunger, poverty, desperation and chaos. Its purpose [is] to permit the emergence of political and social conditions in which free institutions can exist.
We may hope for a silver lining to this dark struggle. The genomic revolution has shown us that novel biotechnologies (like gene sequencers) can be agents not only for medical progress, but also for job creation. To the extent that practical quantum biomicroscopy can be achieved by MRFM, we can hope to create jobs on a similar scale.
In a world heading toward a population of 8-10 billion people, job creation is emerging as one of the 21st Century's most significant challenges, and most wonderful opportunities.
We are keen to assist younger people who are contemplating MRFM-related careers in science or engineering. Students and colleagues may freely adapt "Background and Significance" material from the white papers. The Latex source files for the above white papers are available upon request.
If you are a scientist writing an MRFM-related proposal, our UW group will be glad to help you submit the strongest proposal possible. We particularly welcome ideas for collaborative experiments. You are welcome to visit our laboratory at any time.
Also, don't overlook our What's New? page.