In the race for smaller and smaller electronic components, Man-Kit Ng, SM'97, PhD'02, and chemistry professor Luping Yu have made a gigantic leap forward. The pair created a molecular diode—an electrical component that conducts electricity in one direction—by chemically bonding two electrically opposed compounds made mostly of hydrogen and carbon, embedding them in a sheet only one molecule thick, and then transferring the sheet to a gold platform. The resulting diode, approximately 12 atoms wide, could be the first in a move toward smaller, simpler, and thus faster transistors—which are made by placing two diodes back to back.
Yup, only humans and God can bend the rules of nature to make them do what they wish.
1,648 posted on 05/19/2003 7:06:53 PM PDT by gore3000