New Materials for Computer Chips

New Materials for Computer Chips
Scientists seeks alternatives to silicon computers
July 13, 2013Computer chips have shrunk rapidly over the last ten years or so. The shrinking of computer chips has led to very compact pcs, tablets and smartphones. Yet, one wonders really how much smaller can computer chips and ultimately devices shrink. New data from distinguished Nano chemists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Nano-Science Center, Department of Chemistry at University of Copenhagen shows that organic nanoscale wires could be an alternative to silicon in computer chips. In The discovery was published on the 12th of August 2009 in the scientific journal, Advanced Materials.According to the University of Copenhagen’s Nano-Science Center, these Nato-chemists “have developed nanoscale electric contacts out of organic and inorganic nanowires. In the contact they have crossed the wires like Mikado sticks and coupled several contacts together in an electric circuit. In this way they have produced prototype computer electronics on the nanoscale.” (Nano-Science Center /University of Copenhagen, 2009).Today’s computer chips in computers, mobile phones, and so on have silicon transistors. A transistor is a principal on-and-off contact. There are millions of tiny transistors on every computer chip. Yet, a limit is being approached on how small we can make silicon transistors. Thomas Bjornholm, Director of the Nano-Science Center, Department of Chemistry at University of Copenhagen is very happy over the discovery and explains:“We have succeeded in placing several transistors consisting of nanowires together on a nano device. It is a first step towards realization of future electronic circuitry based on organic materials – a possible substitute for today’s silicon-based technologies. This offers the possibility of making computers in different ways in the future.”Professor Wenping Hu, Chinese Academy of Sciences is excited over the…