Slashdot Mirror
GE Claims Ten-Atom Wide Nanotube
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.'"
IBM has a rather neat page detailing the use of an AFM (Atomic Force Microscope) to manipulate nanotubes.
It's a device.
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.