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Single Molecule Transistor A Reality

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the talking-fruit-still-vapor dept.

Petersko writes "A team from the University of Alberta has proven for the first time that a single molecule can switch electrical currents off and on, a puzzle that scientists worldwide have been trying to crack for decades. The finding could revolutionize the field of electronics, providing a leap ahead for everything from computers to batteries to medical equipment."

9 of 325 comments (clear)

  1. How long until it's usable? by LordKazan · · Score: 2, Interesting

    That's freaking sweet, but how long until we see this filtering into usable technology?

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    1. Re:How long until it's usable? by lcnxw · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I would predict that now that it has been determined to be possible it will be a while before big companies pick up this technology and begin testing with it. TFA didn't mention the cost of manufacturing products using this technology, or the reliability and durability of the technology. at such a small scale if a molecule was shifted even a very small amount, it could render the device unusable. Also, I don't know of any methods of mass producing these types of nano-technology. It could be quite a while (10 years or more) before we see any application of this technology in consumer devices.

    2. Re:How long until it's usable? by grammar+fascist · · Score: 2, Interesting

      While a computer using this new technology is at least a decade away

      It's always "a decade away" for these people, just like it's always 30 years for the AI people. Estimates like that seem less an informed guess and more an expression of confidence.

      By the way, your sig:

      Vader:You're either with me, or my enemy/Bush:You're either with or against us/Obi-Wan:Only the Sith deal in absolutes

      So you caught Lucas's sorry attempt at political commentary?

      Yoda: Do, or do not. There is no try.

      Huh.

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      I got my Linux laptop at System76.
    3. Re:How long until it's usable? by QuantumG · · Score: 2, Interesting

      It's funny ya know. There once was a time where if you were a researcher at a university and you discovered something like this you'd actually go form a company and make a billion dollar industry. Now people have so given up on turning research into products that they just publish their results and hope one of the big boys takes their work and turns it into something useful.

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      How we know is more important than what we know.
    4. Re:How long until it's usable? by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 2, Interesting

      AI has not been proven experimentally in a lab, needing only industrialization engineering to make the science a reality.

      BTW, just because Lucas' simple philosophy is understood by most before we finish elementary school doesn't mean that George Bush ever understood it. Or that it's wrong, even though Bush might say different. But of course, since the facts are biased against Bush, he needs your help to prop up his hideous propaganda.

      But at least you wear your worldview on your sleeve (or your .sig):

      "In mathematics you don't understand things. You just get used to them. -- John von Neumann"

      "In politics, grammar fascist doesn't understand things. GF just gets used to them.." - Doc Ruby

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      make install -not war

  2. Re:but how fast is it? by the_atomsmith · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Yes, but would the chip get the jitters after a while? C10H15N would make it switch even faster although side-effects may include irrational behaviour and violence against other molecules.

  3. Homegrown IC boards by FlynnMP3 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I can't help but think that in 20 years or so that we'll be able to use the latest design inkjet printers, pop special 'inks' in them, load in IC plans into Photoshop IC, hit print and 2 hours later have usable expansion cards for our computers (sans power connectors). Need more memory or replace bad sticks? Just download the plans for your particular machine and away you go. Wonder how much that is going to cost for the IC plans? Or better yet, what about those evil _hacker_ people who design and release IC plans onto the Internet for free?!? Are they nuts? (sarcasm)

    It's coming. Oh boy, then manufacturer's are going to be fighting for their way of survival just like the **AA of today. Fun fun fun!

  4. Re:Really slow device by TopSpin · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The speed will probably be improved...

    That statement doesn't mean that the device is slow. It only says that it takes the researchers a long time to establish the necessary conditions. The odds are that the device, having vanishingly small mass, can switch at very high frequency. Imagine if you were asked to operate an ordinary light switch using the passenger side rear corner of a dump truck while blindfolded. This is analogous to what it's like to manipulate individual molecules with an STM.

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  5. Re:Kind of mediocre article by ghutchis · · Score: 2, Interesting

    There are a couple avenues open, such as using light instead of electrical current. Electrons move around very slowly compared to c.

    Meh. Photonics is really hard to do on the scale of a chip. You could multiplex easier, but remember that with current CPUs, the wires are much smaller than the wavelength of visible or infrared light.

    Plus, electrons aren't traveling very far on a chip. So even if you get the photons working, you're not saving a lot of time per gate.

    Lots of work, little advantage = little reason to switch to photonic computing.

    Now if you're talking networking or telecommunications, then you've got something. Bet we'll see all-optical switching at some point.