Smallest Transistor: First True Electronic Transcontinental
Scientists at the University of Manchester have produced the ‘Smallest Transistor’, measuring a little more that a molecule. The ‘Science Journal’ reports that at one atom thick and ten atoms wide, this is world’s first true electronic nano-component. In fact, it is three times smaller that the 32nm transistors at the cutting edge of silicon-based microelectronics.
The researchers led by Professor Andre Geim and Kostya Novoselov created this world’s smallest transistor by carving out nanometer scale transistors from a single grapheme crystal using an electron beam. This process creates a central quantum-dot with a voltage-sensitive conductivity, much as in conventional transistors.
Grapheme was discovered four years ago. It can be viewed as a plane of material pulled out of Graphite. Unlike other known materials, grapheme remains highly stable and conductive even when it is cut into devices one nanometer wide.
Smaller transistors improve the speed of the electronic devices built using them. No wonder scientists claim that this small transistor can spark the development of super-fast computer chips in future. Transistors made of grapheme start showing advantages at sizes below ten nanometers. Ten nanometers is the miniaturization limit at which traditional silicon-based technology is predicted to actually fail.
However, the biggest crystal of grapheme produced till now measures less than 0.1mm across. This size is too small for mass production. The Manchester team is pretty optimistic and feels this problem will be overcome before long. Does that mean in future we will have pocket-sized grapheme-chip supercomputers? Only time can tell.
