One common challenge in molecular modeling is building large repetitive structures — polymer chains, nanotubes, supramolecular assemblies — without spending hours duplicating and aligning fragments manually. If you’ve ever zoomed in and out hundreds of times just to place identical molecular groups in the right place, you’re not alone.
Fortunately, SAMSON has a solution: Pattern Editors designed to instantly replicate your selected molecular groups into linear, circular, or curved arrangements — no scripts or plugins required.
Three editors, three pattern types
These editors let you work visually, using intuitive interface widgets to define not just the number of repetitions, but their orientation, spacing, and alignment.
- Linear Pattern Editor (L): create straight chains, slabs, or stacked layers.
- Circular Pattern Editor (W): replicate around a central point—ideal for rings and cyclic structures.
- Curved Pattern Editor (Q): follow a custom 3D path to create spirals or arcs.
Why this matters
Imagine you’ve just built a base unit of a rotaxane, a nanotube segment, or a repeating crystal motif. You can now replicate that blueprint into a complete system with tens or hundreds of units in just a few clicks — with live visual feedback.
How to use the Pattern Editors
- Create or load your structure in SAMSON (it could be a molecule, ring, or a group of atoms).
- Select the parts to duplicate.
- Activate one of the pattern editors: Linear (L), Circular (W), or Curved (Q).
- Use the widget that appears on screen to:
- Move and rotate the pattern manually.
- Hold Ctrl (or Cmd) and click the center to enter precise numerical values.
- Scroll your mouse to adjust the number of replicas on the fly.
- Click Accept to finalize and add the patterned structures to your system.
For more control
Need atomic-level precision? In Preferences > Edit > Create pattern, you can:
- Automatically merge nearby atoms.
- Add or adjust hydrogen atoms.
- Decide whether new structures are grouped or merged with existing ones.
Pair Pattern Editors with editing tools like Align & Distribute to quickly generate well-organized supramolecular frameworks.
Ready-made examples
Here’s a great starting point: build a carbon ring, then use the Circular Pattern Editor to replicate it into a full-circle. Stack these rings with the Linear Pattern Editor to generate a carbon nanotube manually — then perform a geometry minimization to relax the final structure.
For a short video overview, check out this 2-minute demo from the Pattern Creation features section.
If you’re building complex nanoscale systems, the Pattern Editors in SAMSON can save you hours of repetitive work — and make molecule construction more interactive and visual.
➡️ Learn more in the official documentation.
SAMSON and all SAMSON Extensions are free for non-commercial use. You can download SAMSON at https://www.samson-connect.net.