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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.'"
...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.
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.
Probably when universities start caring about education.
either:
a: the photon is released has a longer wavelength and thus less energy.
b: the rate is "nearly" 100%, as in sometimes it absorbs a photon and produces heat.
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?
I think he's saying that the molecule either releases a photon or heat is generated. In this case there is a high probability that for the photon release, so heat generation is rare.
/...
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.
Based on These results I'd say "several years ago".
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.
I took a biophotonics course at university. The reason they don't teach this much: its dense, and extremely difficult. While the equations might look pretty in Transmission / Waves class, when you actually get down to the scale of molecules and the like, with all of the complications that entails, it is virtually impossible to make meaningful sense of the mathematical results. The best you can do is a computer simulation, which is occasionally useful, and of course test in the lab.
Prediction: The real iPhone killer is going to be sex robots from Japan. Think about it.
Really? You're not clear on how a single molecule, consisiting of electrons, protons and neutrons, can have properties similar to a transistor, meaning it works as a simple AND operator, but you know what 1.4 K is? Where did you go to school young man?
I am the lawn!
In other words, either we're reaching the limit of what traditional education can teach to a person in a reasonable amount of time or we're reaching the limit of human comprehension. At least one of the two will need a major overhaul before we'll see molecular transistors and biophotonics reach the level of accessibility and acceptance of, say, amateur electronics. And until that happens we'll only see slow, fringe, theoretical progress like this.
mmmm...forbidden donut
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?
Well, do you have a detailed understanding of the equations involved in avalanche breakdown of semiconductors and so on?
But it doesn't matter. You just plug in the appropriate zener diode, or transistor or whatever, that do things in a certain way, that we can understand, but how or why it behaves that way, we don't need to know in order to use it effectively.
Education isn't about learning every detail about the job you're going to do about graduation. At least a good education isn't. A good college will give you a strong background in an area you wish to pursue, a strong work ethic, but most importantly, it will teach you how to learn. A modern education's primary goal must be to teach the students how to look up and assimilate information on their own.
When you hit an issue at your job, you don't just run to a more experienced co-worker anymore (which was the standard behavior 20 years ago). You look it up online, you read and learn from what you find, then you make a simple project to test out what you've learned. Beyond the very basics of your profession, those are the skills that matter most because those are the skills that produce results when no one else has the answers.
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!
The chap who designed the "appropriate zener diode, or transistor, or whatever" may well have had to understand avalanche breakdown.
Loads of stuff can be used with relatively limited knowledge, which is great; but that doesn't obviate the need for the knowledge of how they work.
You look it up online, you read and learn from what you find, then you make a simple project to test out what you've learned.
It is extremely sad how many "developers" can't do this very thing.
TNT