Researchers make single-atom transistor 

Computer scientists might not need to chuck out Moore's Law just yet, as researchers recently developed a technique for assembling a single-atom version of the transistor.

 

The feat by the University of New South Wales in Australia may soon lead to smaller but more powerful computing devices, tech site CNET reported.

 

“The thing that’s unique about the work that we’ve done is that we have, with atomic precision, positioned this single atom within our device,” CNET quoted Martin Fuechsle from the lab as saying.

 

“Our group has proved that it is really possible to position one phosphorus atom in a silicon environment--exactly as we need it--with near-atomic precision, and at the same time register gates,” he added.

 

With the feat, the University of New South Wales team hopes its method of manipulating at the atomic scale can eventually be used to build quantum computers.

 

He said an atomic level of control is important in making the other components such as control gates and electrodes that are needed for a working transistor.

 

A transistor is considered a basic building block of microprocessors and computers.

 

“This individual position (of a phosphorus atom in silicon) is really important...because it turns out that if you want to have precise control at this level, you need to position individual atoms with atomic precision with respect to control gates and electrodes,” Fuechsle said.

 

The researchers used a scanning tunneling microscope to manipulate atoms at the surface of a silicon crystal. They used a lithographic process to lay phosphorous atoms onto the silicon substrate.

 

CNET noted researchers had been working on alternative microprocessor designs to keep up with Moore’s Law, which predicts that the number of transistors on a semiconductor doubles every 18 months.

 

Last year, chipmaker Intel announced it would start using three-dimensional transistors for its 22-nanometer process.

 

Other groups have pursued carbon nanotubes or graphene rather than silicon in the pursuit of miniaturization. — TJD, GMA News