Stories tagged transistors

Graphene transistor tiniest ever

Graphene from graphite: Graphene is one layer of carbon atoms linked chickenwire-like within graphite. Only one atom thick and less than 50 atoms wide, these "nano" transistors are the smallest in the world. Graphene transistors originally produced at the end of 2004 were very “leaky”. Transistors are like a valves, controlling the flow of an electric current. If they cannot be totally turned off, the leakage results in drained batteries.

Leakage problem solved

Now the Manchester team has found an elegant way around the problem and made graphene-based transistors suitable for use in future computer chips.

Graphene remains highly stable and conductive even when it is cut into strips of only a few nanometres wide.
All other known materials - including silicon - oxidise, decompose and become unstable at sizes tens times larger.
Professor Geim does not expect that graphene-based circuits will come of age before 2025. DailyTech

Professor Andre Geim and Dr Kostya Novoselov from The School of Physics and Astronomy at The University of Manchester reveal details of these transistors, in the March issue of Nature Materials.

Want to read their news releases?

• New graphene transistor promises life after death of silicon chip (01 Mach, 2007).
• Discovery of Two-Dimensional Fabric Denotes Dawn of New Materials Era (18 Oct, 2004)
• One-atom-thick materials promise a 'new industrial revolution' (18 July, 2005)

Tags : nanotechnology, nano, transistors, graphene, graphite, University of Manchester

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Moore's Law breakthrough.

Moore's law: Doubles every 2 years
Silicon Valley has reached the limit for using silicon dioxide in computer chips. To shrink microprocessors to the 45 nanometer scale, Intel is using a high-K hafnium dielectric material and a secret mixture of metals that allow twice as many transistors to fit in the same space. Moore's Law states that the number of transistors in a microprocessor will double every two years.

How small can we go?

Four hundred of Intel's 45nm transistors could fit on the surface of a single human red blood cell. The period in this sentence could hold two thousand. Intel will release its new family of processors named Penryn this year. Their quad-core chip will contain 800 million transistors.

Want to learn more?

Intel press release
Intel 45nm Transistor fun facts (PDF 39KB)
Video explaination of 45nm production

Tags : nanotechnology, nano, computer, Moore's law, transistors, 45nm, hafnium, penryn

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