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GE Claims Ten-Atom Wide Nanotube

Posted by timothy on from the can-you-trust-them dept.

Richthofen80 writes "GE is touting a development in nanotechnology; specifically they say they've developed a nanotube ten atoms wide. While the article is a little sparse on the applications for such tubes, they do seem to mention how this should help delay the impending Moore's law crisis with transistor size. According to the article, 'Unlike earlier designs, GE's nanotube can both emit and detect light, GE said. That means it has potential to perform tasks like shining small amounts of light on molecules, a possible application in medicine or security.'"

19 comments

  1. Holy Patent Application! by Dr.+Smeegee · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This is the first cool thing I have seen out of actual GE research for a long time. I was a GE employee for 4 years. It seemed from the inside that they would rather have GE Capital aquire the interesting technology- then figure out a way to Six-Sigma and Shigijutsu it to the point where they lose a shit-load of money on it. Medical notwithstanding, the old GE ain't what it used to be.

    1. Re:Holy Patent Application! by digime · · Score: 2, Interesting

      ...then figure out a way to Six-Sigma and Shigijutsu it to the point where they lose a shit-load of money on it.

      Amen. I'm working for GE right now. They took a great company, Six-Sigma'ed it and changed the culture so much the customers didn't like it, started losing money, now they're unloading it with an IPO.

      Off topic I know but it never ceases to amaze me how management intentionally changes something that works to justify themselves existing. Take McDonalds for instance. Every couple of years for the past 10 or so they've changed something seemingly insignificant about the taste of the food. From keeping the food in little steam drawers, to changing the oil in the fries (they're no longer the best IMO), etc. Bit by bit they've changed something good, that made money, into crap. So they could put down on a piece of paper how many pennies per unit they saved. Each preceeding PHB has pulled the same thing and the cycle will continue until one day, you'll order a cheeseburger and get a pickle wrapped in newspaper. This goes on all over the place, like taking that one ounce out of the ketchup bottle and charging the same price, then the next PHB does it, and so on. All while gradually but surely ruining their products in the customer's eyes.

    2. Re:Holy Patent Application! by bcattwoo · · Score: 1
      one day, you'll order a cheeseburger and get a pickle wrapped in newspaper

      Or you could just order their Atkins-friendly, low-fat, high-fiber burger now.

    3. Re:Holy Patent Application! by Dr.+Smeegee · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Heh. Yeah. Six Sigma (as applied, read "Cult of Statistical Analysis") is a stack of really effective tools blunted by inexperienced users. Shoving these fairly complicated methodologies down the throats of unwilling workers and customers. It works like gangbusters on the factory floor - it don't work for coding.

  2. Too thin? by kev0153 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Kramer: "I've cut slices so thin, I couldn't even see them."

    Elaine: "How'd you know you cut it?"

    Kramer: "Well, I guess I just assumed."

  3. How to manipulate nanotubes? by Dr.+Spork · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The article mentioned it would be hard to build anything out of these... I can just imagine! Also, there was no mention of how long these thing are. We are a long time from being able to assemble anything useful from these things.

    1. Re:How to manipulate nanotubes? by jabberjaw · · Score: 2, Informative

      IBM has a rather neat page detailing the use of an AFM (Atomic Force Microscope) to manipulate nanotubes.

    2. Re:How to manipulate nanotubes? by Alsee · · Score: 1

      Suddenly I'm picturing one of those Jumbo size potato chip bags, except this one is labeled Nanotubes. In small print at the bottom it says "Contents: 6 nanotubes" and "Contents may have settled during shipping".

      -

      --
      - - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
  4. May be you are correct by vijaya_chandra · · Score: 1

    Went through the GE research site to see what all is being done.

    This one is under the area 'Advanced Computing Technologies' : ColorXpress/VisualFX
    This definitely doesn't seem to be complex. Am damn sure it could have been a 1 semester undergrad project

  5. The article refers to a 'device' by exp(pi*sqrt(163)) · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Yet clearly what they have is a tube. It's a bit of stretch of the imagination to call it a 'device'. But in these days of nanotechnology funding I guess they can't really make a press release saying they've made just a tube.

    --
    Doesn't it make you feel good to know that our freedoms are protected by politicans, lawyers and journalists.
    1. Re:The article refers to a 'device' by p3tersen · · Score: 4, Informative
      No. The abstract to their publication (Appl Phys Lett 85 145) begins:

      We demonstrate a single-walled carbon nanotube p-n junction diode device. The p-n junction is formed along a single nanotube by electrostatic doping using a pair of split gate electrodes. By biasing the two gates accordingly, the device can function either as a diode or as an ambipolar field-effect transistor.

      It's a device.
  6. Incomplete submission by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Aren't submissions that mention Moore's law and atomic level construction supposed to end with "Can quantum computing be far away?"

  7. how wide is it? by pizza_milkshake · · Score: 1

    /me presses fingers together
    it's *this* wide

  8. Thank you by exp(pi*sqrt(163)) · · Score: 1

    The pop-science version didn't make sense at all but nobody seemed bothered.

    --
    Doesn't it make you feel good to know that our freedoms are protected by politicans, lawyers and journalists.
  9. what??? by croddy · · Score: 1

    what?! no pictures!?

  10. Perhaps this is relavent by erichill · · Score: 2, Informative
    PHYSICS NEWS UPDATE
    The American Institute of Physics Bulletin of Physics News
    Number 691 July 7, 2004 by Phillip F. Schewe, Ben Stein

    SWITCHABLE NANOTUBE DIODES made by scientists at the research arm of General Electric combine the practical electrical properties ofcarbon nanotubes (ability to carry high currents; ability to emit light) with the flexibility of being changed over from a p-n type of diode (allowing current to flow in one direction only) to an n-p diode type (allowing current only in the opposite direction). Most solid state transistors are three-terminal devices: current comes in at one terminal (the source) and exits at a second terminal (the drain) if a third terminal (the gate) carries a certain voltage, which has the effect of electrostatically clearing out a realm for charge carriers to flow through. In the GE device, the "realm" is a single-walled carbon nanotube (NT), while the "gate" is actually two separate gates located beneath the NT. These split gates can electrostatically dope the two ends of the NT in such a way that current will flow in only one direction or only in the other depending on the gate voltages. If you count the source, drain, two gate electrodes, and another electrode attached to an underlying silicon substrate, the device overall has five terminals. Diodes are intrinsically simpler than transistors, but up till now more work has gone into developing NT transistors than for NT diodes. The GE researchers (contact Ji-Ung Lee, leeji@research.ge.com) expect their device to function as both a field effect transistor (FET) or as a light emitting diode (LED). Because of its ability to carry high currents, and because the company in question is GE, it might also find applications in power electronics, where huge currents and voltages are to be found. (Lee et al., Applied Physics Letters, 5 July 2004, cover story; text at www.aip.org/physnews/select)

    PHYSICS NEWS UPDATE is a digest of physics news items arising from physics meetings, physics journals, newspapers and magazines, and other news sources. It is provided free of charge as a way of broadly disseminating information about physics and physicists. For that reason, you are free to post it, if you like, where others can read it, providing only that you credit AIP. Physics News Update appears approximately once a week.

    Unfortunately, the link in the article is for subscribers only.

    There's a news item at GE's site, but it only says about as much as the article linked in the original posting.

    --
    Credo sim. - I think I am.
  11. Space Elevators! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is it me or are these nanotubes just the thing for building Space Elevator tethers?

  12. er, I meant... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Circumference...