Molecule Sized Transistors

IceFoot writes "Bell Labs announced it has created organic transistors with a single-molecule channel length, more than a factor of ten smaller than anything that has been demonstrated even with the most advanced lithography techniques. The really cool part is the transistors assemble themselves: the molecules do the work of finding the electrodes and attaching themselves. Webcast on Wednesday, October 17, 2001 at 3:00 p.m. Eastern time"

Comments

I saw the webcast

[CmdrTroll]

My employer has a substantial stake in the chip business, and most of us from the Custom ASIC department huddled around a large monitor over lunch today to watch this. Their techniques are fascinating and may someday revolutionize the way we build circuits.

However, the thing that they do not mention in the announcement is that Bell Labs continues to have problems with the chemical bonds between molecules decaying quickly on these transistors. It is similar to the problems that plague engineers of DNA processors, another cutting-edge-but-hopelessly-broken technology. In fact, despite all of these new achievements that promise to revolutionize the industry, silicon is still king and will be king for many years to come.

-CT

Shape of turn-on curve...

[dpilot]

I wonder what the shape of the turn-on curve is like?

Modern short-channel MOSFETs are an ungainly compromise between being on and off. We can manipulate the threshold voltage, but so far we can't change the shape of the turn-on (essentially the gain) curve very well. The practical upshot is that modern transistors are perched somewhere between leaking too much DC current and not being strong enough to drive signals with the strength we need.

At the moment, there is no such thing as low-power, high-performance deep submicron logic. It's the nature of the transistor, not the clock speed.