Slashdot Mirror
Optical Transistor Made From Single Molecule
An anonymous reader writes "Researchers from ETH Zurich have recently managed to create an optical transistor from a single molecule in what is yet another important achievement on the road to quantum computing. The molecule itself is about 2 nanometers in size, much smaller than standard transistors, which means that a lot more could be integrated in a single chip. Dr. Hwang, lead author of the academic paper, said, 'Our single-molecule optical transistor generates almost negligible amount of heat. When a single molecule absorbs one photon, there is some probability (quantum yield) that the molecule emits a photon out. The rest of the energy absorbed turns into heat in the matrix. For the case of the specific hydrocarbon molecule that we use, the quantum yield is near 100%. So almost no heat is generated.'"
Q: In Christianity, is pooping/farting/etc. moral?
A: There are many possible ways to answer this question. However, from a Christian perspective, most scholars would agree that it is not moral to poop and/or fart. This presents an interesting dilemma, since pooping and farting are physiological requirements of being a human... there's just no way to avoid it! The thing to remember is that we all fall short of the glory of God and that we all are sinners in need of redemption. The fact that we all poop and fart is just further proof of this.
Q: Did humans always poop and fart?
A: No. It is generally agreed that before the Fall from Grace, the digestive systems of human beings were perfect machines. When we ate food and drank liquids, our bodies were able to process all of the material with perfect efficiency, leaving no waste products to be removed. However, after Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge, humans lost their perfection. Part of this process included the digestive system losing its ability to process food with 100% efficiency. Shortly after the successful temptation of Eve by Satan, over 6,000 years of human pooping and farting began.
Q: What about peeing?
A: Peeing is an excretory function and is just as immoral as pooping and farting.
Q: Why are the sexual organs used to pee?
A: To reinforce the evils of sex. If we are mindful of the fact that peeing is awful and immoral, then we are also mindful of the fact that other activities that involve the same organs are also awful and immoral. The Lord does not want these organs exposed to anybody (not even to yourself) and He certainly does not want them inserted into anybody, unless it can be demonstrated that a child is the intended result. Pursuant to this, it is necessary to remind each and every one of God's children that pooping, peeing, and sex are all evil, as are the sexual organs.
Q: If I am in church and I have to poop, what should I do?
A: Hold it! The fact that some misguided denominations have installed toilets in their churches does not mean that those toilets should be used! Can you imagine how impudent it is to sit down and void your bowels in a house of the Lord? Again, we must be very clear about this: We all poop, and there is no avoiding this. However, we are not mongrels with no control over our bodily functions! If you have to poop, fart, or pee, then hold it until you are in the privacy of your own home and there are no negative moral ramifications to your excretory actions!
We believe that toilets should be removed from all churches. If a voluntary request is not enough to make this happen, then we would support federal legislation banning certain types of plumbing from within 30 cubits of a church.
Q: When should I tell my children about pooping?
A: Well, obviously, they start doing it the day that they are born. They don't have to be taught how to do it. But there does come a time when children have to be taught about the immorality of pooping, farting, and peeing. Most experts suggest that the age of 6 or 7 is a good time for this lesson. This is the time when most children are apt to start experimenting with "pull my finger" games and other forms of Satanism.
...is generated by the transitor but the compressor needed to keep it at 1.4 Kelvin will keep your basement nice and warm.
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
... but can it run Crysis? I'm not much of a physicist, but this sounds like exciting news. I'm not really clear on how a single molecule can have properties similar to a transistor though. Gotta cool it down to 1.4 K though, ouch.
Does anyone know when this science will be taught in universities?
If one photon is absorbed and one emitted where does the heat energy come from. The molecule must be absorbing more than one photon, or is it also being "powered" so that the absorbtion can take place?
We've made a quantum optical transistor out of a single molecule!
The bad news is that the single molecule masses about 2.4 tonnes. Yeah, it's a pretty big molecule. And don't scuff it, either. We don't want to brush any carbon atoms off the surface.
Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
do quantum transistors suffer from leakage? if so, while this is an excellent piece of engineering on it's own, it's pretty useless in practice as any data would just get lost in the fudge.
Everything in the article focused on the heat loss, energy efficiency and potential throughput, but no reasons were specifically given as to why this would succeed where Electronic processors have broken down other than 'Photons are beter than Electrons'.
How close can these new transistors get before they start contaminating each other's states?
Would these not be more suceptable to outside interference (Stray cosmic rays, shining a torch on it?)
Okay, maybe not the shining a torch on it. But if a single molecule transistor is hit by a stray photon, it *will* affect it's state surely. If so are they going to have abour 20 transistors doing the calculations and matching them for discrepencies?
The article raises more questions than it answers. Maybe I just don't know enough about quantum computing, but I'd like the answers all the same.
It pays to be obvious, especially if you have a reputation for being subtle.
So does that mean we'll finally get Tron-esque glowing computer parts?! ..I'm guessing it depends on the energy level of the photons and the frequency they are released.. but please let them be a soothing blue :)
In all seriousness, this sounds excellent, good job guys.
wa7k up to a play it just 0wnz.',
but only because some of the photon bombardment results in actual vaporization of the technology in question
so we need a new word, in regards to nanotech, for the traditional connotation of vaporware meaning technology that is announced but will not be realized. something that has nanotech connotations
hmmm. perhaps sevenofnineware. because you most certainly are out of that league
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Going a bit further in time with this kind of molecules, how them can be used in mass production of quantum computers, if there will be any of such in the future? Genetic engineering?
This just blows my mind away, the leaps and bounds that can be made with just a few of these emergent techs is, is.... WOW! While I have never been one completely on the tail of Kurzweils futurism visions of the singularity, this is one step closer to that vision, right? I mean, seems to me that the power of computing with this technology will help us approach that figure where the interconnecting happening within our CPU cycles gets near the same 'mass' as whatever it is that happens in our grey matter between our ears as a species. What was it, something like 10 Teracycles?
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature08134
Couldn't find anything in TFA or at ETH's website. Luckily, it was in a journal who's RSS feed I subscribe to!
Hehehe... this incredible stuff gets me thinking about theories related to Area-51 and technologies from crashed extra-terrestrial alien spacecraft and stuff. Go back in your mind as few as 25 years ago (if you are old enough) and imagine how you would have reacted if such technologies emerged at that time "out of the blue."? I think the reaction would be quite startling. Hell, even 25 years ago there were some pretty amazing developments and the like. But this is pretty awesome stuff. I'm still waiting on some of those materials that are so smooth that it offers no friction to the touch. (I recall some alien encounter thing on TV long long ago where some guy said he touched an alien spacecraft and it was so smooth that he was unsure he was actually touching it because while solid, it offered no friction and at the same time was not wet or oily... to me it sounded like the ultimate in drag reduction technology.)
But will i be able theorize that one could time travel within their own lifetime, so I can step into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanish?
I do not support "The Man". I also do not support your irrational stupidity
If there's one thing I've learned from watching Doctor Who, it's that crossing one's own timeline is dangerous and forbidden, except for cheap tricks like undoing your necktie at some one.
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
I don't see how a transistor that outputs one photon after it absorbs one photon can provide any amplification. Shouldn't it have to output more than one photon in order to provide useful gain?
I'm probably being dense here, but I'd really appreciate anyone who can explain how this can possibly work given that the wavelength of light is many hundreds of times longer than 2nm? I read the article and was none the wiser. Given the mention of quantum mechanics, is this related to wave/particle duality? That is, this detects the light particle irrelevant of the wavelength?
Sudden and and suugesting vitality. Its BSD culminate3 in expulsion of IPF All know we want. nearly two years
He isn't talking about jobs, he's talking about individuals messing around. What the GP basically said:
(1) Either this is too hard to teach, or its just plain too hard for most humans to comprehend regardless of how well we teach it, and
(2) Until we fix that situation somehow (such as by enhancing our own brains with technological implants, or whatever) you are not going to see "amateurs" (people) just doing this stuff in their basements as a hobby, which (if it happened) would kick-start all sorts of innovation and breakthroughs.
I'm not sure that making it accessible enough for amateurs to fool around with it in the basement is a necessary condition for the breakthroughs to start coming, but it would surely be sufficient.
Does it run Linux?