Scientists build world's smallest transistor

A team of scientists is said to have set a record by creating the world's smallest transistor with a 1nm gate using a pair of novel materials: carbon nanotubes and molybdenum disulphide. The combination belongs to a class of materials called transition metal dichalcogenides, or TMDs.

Molybdenum disulphide, or MoS2, is an engine lubricant that scientists believe has tremendous potential in the field of electronics. Like silicon, MoS2 boasts a crystalline lattice structure. But electrons don't move as easily through MoS2 as they do through silicon. Transistors rely on a gate to control the flow of electricity through its terminals. But because silicon allows for such a free flow of electrons, the particles barge through the doors when the gate becomes too small. "This means we can't turn off the transistors," Sujay Desai, graduate student at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, explained. "The electrons are out of control." When electrons are out of control, transistors leak energy. With MoS2, scientists could make the gate – and the transistor – much smaller without making it susceptible to gate-crashing electrons. "This work demonstrated the shortest transistor ever," said Professor Ali Javey from the University of California, Berkeley. "However, it's a proof of concept. We have not yet packed these transistors onto a chip, and we haven't done this billions of times over." "Large-scale processing and manufacturing of TMD devices down to such small gate lengths will require future innovations," said Moon Kim, professor at the University of Texas. Still, researchers are hopeful the breakthrough will translate to smaller more efficient computer chips, and ultimately, smaller, more efficient electronics. "A cell phone with this technology built in would not have to be recharged as often," Kim said.

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