A team of boffins from Yale University and the Gwangju Institute
of Science and Technology in South Korea have come up with the world's
first molecular transistor.
Their cunning plan was to combine pricey gold and toxic benzene to
mimic a classic silicon transistor. It turns out that a single benzene
molecule attached to a couple of gold contacts behaves just like a
silicon transistor and researchers were able to manipulate its
different energy states with varying voltages. However, the total amount of gold ever mined in human history is sufficient to fill just two Olympic sized swimming pool. With 7 billion computing hungry souls on the planet, even a tiny amount used per single chip might put a squeeze on demand.
"It's
like rolling a ball up and over a hill, where the ball represents
electrical current and the height of the hill represents the molecule's
different energy states," said Yale Professor Mark Reed. "We were able to adjust the height
of the hill, allowing current to get through when it was low, and
stopping the current when it was high." In this way, the team was able
to use the molecule in much the same way as regular transistors are
used.
Reed did similar research in the nineties, demonstrating that
individual molecules could be trapped between electrical contacts. Now
his team developed new techniques allowing them to fully grasp what
happens on the molecular level.
However, although the concept would in theory allow chipmakers to come
up with minuscule chips, Reed is quick to point out that the
development process will take years.
"We're not about to create the next generation
of integrated circuits," he said. "But after many years of work gearing
up to this, we have fulfilled a decade-long quest and shown that
molecules can act as transistors."
More here.