Smallest ever transisters= tiny PC's

[FarFarAway]

It looks like those clever science bods have done it again and gone and invented transisters that are 1molecue long.

Scientists at the University of Arizona have discovered how to use quantum mechanics to turn molecules into working transistors in the lab, a breakthrough that might one day lead to high-powered computers the size of a postage stamp.

Results of the as-yet-unpublished study came together just weeks before Canadian researchers performed a similar feat using chemical means. That experiment appeared in the journal Nature last week. Together, the two studies could bring the final frontier in nanocomputing -- a single-molecule transistor -- considerably closer to reality.

So we go from:

The smallest transistors in consumer electronics devices today measure 50 nanometers across

to one molecule!! So a PC the size of a postage stamp??

The Arizona team's proposed transistor is a ring-shaped molecule such as benzene. Attaching the two electrical leads to non-opposite sides of the ring -- at, say, the 12 o'clock and 4 o'clock positions -- allows the electrons to flow through the molecular ring and not destructively interfere with one another. (Due to the quantum wavelike laws of nature that electrons follow, attaching electrical leads at the 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock positions causes the current to cancel itself out.)

OK, too much physics for me there, but basically its really small!!

Full article at Wired and a nice summary at Bit-Tech

 

[FragTek]

Sweeeeet... this could lead the way for some cool wearable shit

 

[ionicle_old]

wow a computer that you can wear, they only now need to find ot how to tap it into your brain! for instant access!

 

[JN]

As much as i love the idea of small computers, i still want a big a$$ rig sitting on my desk growling at me :evil::evil:

 

[FarFarAway]

As much as i love the idea of small computers, i still want a big a$$ rig sitting on my desk growling at me :evil::evil:

Yeah me too