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Ohm's Law Survives To the Atomic Level

Posted by samzenpus on from the smaller-the-better dept.

Hugh Pickens writes "Moore's Law, the cornerstone of the semiconductor industry, may get a reprieve from its predicted demise. As wires shrink to just nanometers in diameter, their resistivity tends to grow exponentially, curbing their usefulness as current carriers. But now a team of researchers has shown that it is possible to fabricate low-resistivity nanowires at the smallest scales imaginable by stringing together individual atoms in silicon as small as four atoms (about 1.5 nanometers) wide and a single atom tall. The secret is to introduce phosphorus along that line because each phosphorus atom donates an electron to the silicon crystal, which promotes electrical conduction. They then encase the nanowires entirely in silicon, which makes the conduction electrons more immune to outside influence. By embedding phosphorus atoms within a silicon crystal with an average spacing of less than 1 nanometer, the team achieved a diameter-independent resistivity, which demonstrates ohmic scaling to the atomic limit. 'That moves the wires away from the surfaces and away from other interfaces,' says physicist says Michelle Simmons. 'That allows the electron to stay conducting and not get caught up in other interfaces.' The wires have the carrying capacity of copper, indicating that the technique might help microchips continue their steady shrinkage over time and may even extend the life of Moore's Law. 'Fundamentally, we have shown that we can maintain low resistivities in doped silicon wires down to the atomic scale,' says Simmons, adding that it may not be ready for production now, but, 'who knows 20 years from now?'"

6 of 104 comments (clear)

  1. But will... by blahplusplus · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ... it scale and can you produce it cheaply?

    1. Re:But will... by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It is pretty much assured that it will scale better and cost less than all those effects for which the fundamental physics don't actually work, so we are off to an atypically promising start...

  2. Re:Just a rant by Kjella · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Since the popular definition of Moore's Law is exponential growth in any tech-related field, I'd say approximately never..

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    Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
  3. Re:So many laws by jpapon · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You learned Moore's "law" in high school physics class? That seems pretty off-topic to me.

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    -- Let us endeavor so to live that when we pass even the undertaker shall be sorry. -- M. Twain
  4. Re:Could be very useful by jpapon · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Nevermind, superconducting crystals are way too complicated to make nanoscale wires from.

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    -- Let us endeavor so to live that when we pass even the undertaker shall be sorry. -- M. Twain
  5. Re:So many laws by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    You do realize the entire semi conductor field is one giant application of physics and electrical engineering right?

    The dudes making these newer chips have to have a pretty good understanding of the physics. They have to understand what their electrical components will do at the scales they are using and why they are or are not getting the performance they expect.

    So I could totally see a physics teacher bringing up Moores law. It is fairly relevant to what sorts of things the students may be working on if they continue in the field.