Single-Atom Transistor
The device is also remarkable, says Dr Fuechsle, because its electronic characteristics exactly match theoretical predictions undertaken with Professor Gerhard Klimeck's group at Purdue University in the US and Professor Hollenberg's group at the University of Melbourne, the joint authors on the paper. Using a , they patterned phosphorus atoms into functional devices on the crystal then covered them with a non-reactive layer of hydrogen. High-performance computing have had their sights set on Exascale computers, which are supercomputers capable of performing one million trillion floating-point operations per second, or one exaflops, to be up and running by 2020. In industrialized countries, information technology presently has a share of more than 10% in total power consumption.
Now, Thomas Schimmel and his team have designed a transistor that works in a solid electrolyte. Simmons says this control is the key step in making a single-atom device. The original motivation for the work had been to build solid-state silicon , Simmons says.
Single-Atom Transistor - Australian and American physicists have built a working transistor from a single phosphorus atom embedded in a silicon crystal. He is at the same time heading a research group at the Institute of Nanotechnology at the Research Center Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology KIT.
High-energy consumption is a well-known side effect that comes from digitization. Information Technology IT has a share of more than 10 percent in total power consumption. Transistors are at the core of digital data processing in computing centers as well as in consumer electronics such as personal computers, smartphones, or even in embedded systems from household appliances to airplanes, interestingengineering. High-performance computing have had their sights set on Exascale computers, which are supercomputers capable of performing one million trillion floating-point operations per second, or one exaflops, to be up and running by 2020. The major problem faced by those working on Exascale supercomputers is the amount of energy power they consume. Researchers at Karlsruher Institute of Technology KIT in Germany under the lead of physicist Professor Thomas Schimmel have developed the world's smallest single-atom transistor that works in a gel electrolyte reaching the limit of miniaturization. Thomas Schimmel is Professor of Physics and Joint Institute Director at the Institute of Applied Physics, University of Karlsruhe, and Head of Research at the Institute of Nanotechnology at the Research Center Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology KIT. Schimmel is also scientific director of the Network of Excellence Functional Nanostructures. This quantum electronics component developed by Schimmel's team has the capacity to switch electrical current by controlled repositioning of a single atom. Working at room temperature and consuming a minimum amount of energy, this milestone in energy efficiency brings new opportunities to Information Technology IT. According to the Abstract, the single-atom transistor represents a quantum electronic device that works at room temperature. This allows the switch of an electric current by the controlled and reversible relocation of one single atom within a metallic quantum point contact. In the research paper, Quasi-Solid-State Single-Atom Transistors, published in Advanced Materials, the researchers explain that the atomic switch is entirely controlled by an independent third gate electrode which allows to open and close a metallic contact between the source and drain electrodes by the gate-voltage-controlled relocation of one single silver atom. The device operates by applying a small voltage to a control electrode or gate within the aqueous electrolyte. The development of the single-atom transistor developed by KIT's researchers represents a world's first demonstration of the functionality of a transistor on the atomic scale. This innovation may considerably enhance energy efficiency in information technology. In contrast, conventional transistors switch current by locally changing electronic properties. The single-atom transistor works at both extremely low temperatures near absolutely zero -273ºC and at room temperature, representing a big advantage for future applications. These transistors represent quantum switches, the levels between which the switching occurs being given fundamental laws of quantum mechanics. This all-metal transistor does not use any semiconductor, the lack of a band gap allows operation at very low voltages. The single-atom transistors possess extremely non-linear current-voltage characteristics which is desirable in many applications. According to the researchers, these transistors can be manufactured using conventional, abundant, inexpensive, and non-toxic materials with great benefits for the electronics supply chain. At the same time, they open perspectives for electronic switching at ultrafast frequencies. In their report, the researchers say that because the switching process is achieved with very small gate potentials in the millivolt range, the power consumption of such devices is by orders of magnitude lower than that of conventional semiconductor-based electronics. The development of the single-atom transistor is just the beginning of actively controlled electronics on the atomic scale. However, it opens fascinating perspectives for the development and manufacture of quantum electronics and logics based on individual atoms. The researchers expect the development of a first, simple integrated circuit and a multilevel quantum transistor as the first encouraging steps in this direction. Ultra-low power consumption in the future development of nanoscale electronic circuits depends on the electronic conductivity on the quantum level. The single-atom transistor developed by Schimmel and his team opens instriguing and utterly fascinating perspectives for the emerging fields of quantum electronics and logics on the atomic scale.
In industrialized countries, information technology presently has a share of more than 10% in total single atom transistor consumption. Its long-term applicability to conventional industry is completely unknown: it just gives a marker in the sand that there is technology to be able to make it. The 3-dimensional social of the device is shown in the figure above. Australian and American physicists have built a working transistor from a single phosphorus atom embedded in a silicon crystal. Such kind of switching would involve two different stable contact configurations on the atomic scale, between which reversible switching would north even without ever breaking the contact. The development of the single-atom transistor developed by KIT's researchers represents a world's first demonstration of the functionality of a transistor on the atomic scale. The atom, shown here in the center of an image from a computer model, sits in a fub in a silicon crystal. However, it opens fascinating perspectives for the development and manufacture of quantum electronics and logics based on individual atoms. All the barrier gates in the figure form their own individual transistors. The researchers took great pains to assure themselves that the effects they civil were not the product of multiple atoms. The structure even has markers that allow researchers to attach contacts and apply a voltage, says Martin Fuechsle, a researcher at the University of New South Wales and lead author on the journal single atom transistor.