IBM scientists have constructed a single carbon nanotube, believed to be one of the smallest examples of electronic circuitry constructed out of individual molecules.
According to a report in Technology Review, the nanotube, has been constructed to form two types of transistors, each just a few billionths of a meter in diameter. The structure is a hundred times smaller than existing commercial computer chip transistors.
The nanotube transistors work as a logic gate, the fundamental component responsible for selectively directing electrical signals.
While at this stage the device is just a laboratory demonstration, it indicates that carbon nanotubes could potentially replace silicon crystals as the building blocks for small and fast computers.
According to the report, after taking into account differences in size, tests show nanotube transistors offer a performance superior to that of state-of-the-art silicon transistors.
Prototypes of nanotube devices are being tested in a wide range of applications, including flat-panel TV screens and ultra-bright outdoor lighting. It is predicted that the technology may be commercially available in the TV market as soon as Christmas 2003, although it is expected to have the strongest impact in the computer memory and logic market.