Carbon Nanotubes Could Lead to Even Smaller Devices

Oct-30-12 Using standard semiconductor processes, researchers at IBM have built a working transistor made of carbon nanotubes, which could lead to a new generation of smaller, faster and more powerful computer chips.

To create the new transistor, the team placed the carbon nanotubes into a soapy mixture, which made them soluble in water. They then dipped a substrate with a silicon oxide base and trenches of chemically-modified hafnium oxide into the solution, causing the nanotubes to bond to the trenches and create rows of densely-packed, conductive carbon nanotubes while leaving the rest of the surface clear.

This is the first time that more than ten thousand carbon nanotubes have been precisely placed on a single chip using commercial manufacturing processes, and the researchers believe they can increase that number to compete with silicon chips.

Image: IBM via PopSci

More Info about this Invention:

[POPSCI.COM]
[IBM]

---