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Nanotech Advances Forward

Posted by Hemos on from the baby-steps-forward dept.

dar writes "Scientists have built a transistor a single molecule wide that works at room temperature. " Nanotech continues to move forward - while each step is interesting in itself, we've still got a long ways to go before I can have my can of nanobots.

3 of 70 comments (clear)

  1. Carbon nanotube by DarkMan · · Score: 5

    That was a particilurly uninformative article, so heres a little more:

    The system involves cabon nanotubes (hence why it got into Science [0]). These devices, sometimes called buckytubes, are semiconductors. Production of a Y junction, which was seen as a prerequisite to transistor like behaviour, was achived about 6 months to a year ago, in various groups (exact time depends on pwhich group and precise nature of the tube).

    It's nice to see the somone's made a transistor from this stuff, but it won't replace silicon in the near future.

    These are independant devices, and do not lend themselves to lithographic techniques. At least, not by any method thus far discovered.

    To make a circuit from these would be like assembuiling it from discrete transistors, but at a near molecular level.
    --

  2. stickiness problems by tim_maroney · · Score: 5
    What happened to those?

    They turned out to be far more problematic than anticipated, like most new technologies. Gears stick together, levers bend, everything wears out. It turns out that microsurfaces are different enough from macrosurfaces that the basic mechanisms that work on the macroscale fail on the microscale.

    Unfortunately, it's not online except for subscribers, but the always interesting Science News did an article on the problem last year:

    Unexpectedly strong friction and other surface forces are hindering development of some microscopic machines, such as these microgears with teeth 9 micrometers long. Researchers are turning to a new frontier of surface science for answers about sticking and wear.

    There are micromachines that work, as other posters have noted, but the idea that larger-scale mechanical engineering could be easily projected into the microworld has now been discredited. Nanotechnology will present even greater challenges.

    Tim Maroney

  3. Room temperature? by bartle · · Score: 5

    I don't see why these scientists insist on making everything function at room temperature. At this rate liquid nitrogen will never gain household acceptance. Potentially very useful; you can use it to inflate tires, turn bananas into hammers, and cryogenically store your goldfish when you go on vacation. If this is the future, I'm not sure I want to be here.