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Scientists Invent Transistor Made of a Single Molecule
FoxNews ^ | 8 Nov 01 | Staff

Posted on 11/08/2001 2:00:45 PM PST by VadeRetro

Edited on 04/22/2004 12:31:34 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]

WASHINGTON -- Scientists have invented the tiniest transistor that may ever be possible -- using only a single molecule.

Bell Labs' organic nanotransistor, about 10 million of which can fit on the head of a pin, could be used to fit lightning-fast computers on clothes and paper and otherwise revolutionize technology as we know it.


(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


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Another giant leap for mankind.
1 posted on 11/08/2001 2:00:45 PM PST by VadeRetro
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To: Physicist; PatrickHenry; longshadow; RadioAstronomer
Hi-tech bumpus.
2 posted on 11/08/2001 2:09:58 PM PST by VadeRetro
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To: VadeRetro
And then there's the usual inertia from established industries. Researchers may have too much invested in silicon to see it replaced by molecular cousins anytime soon, Goldhaber-Gordon said.

Doubt it. If this new technology is really as easy as they say it is, established companies will probably rush to dump all of that really expensive infrastructure ASAP.

3 posted on 11/08/2001 2:13:31 PM PST by r9etb
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To: r9etb
I would hope so, too. The speed and size gains should make it irresistible.
4 posted on 11/08/2001 2:15:39 PM PST by VadeRetro
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To: VadeRetro
"Scientists Invent Transistor Made of a Single Molecule"

"I thought my eyes would permanently cross", said co-inventor Hong Meng. "Soldering the leads to that baby was a bitch!"

5 posted on 11/08/2001 2:36:31 PM PST by FastCoyote
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To: VadeRetro
Related stuff:

IBM scientist sees nanotechnology supplanting transistors

Optics beyond existing limits - a single ion as a quantum probe

6 posted on 11/08/2001 2:43:12 PM PST by Nebullis
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To: VadeRetro
Where is the jack to plug in my earphones?
7 posted on 11/08/2001 2:43:16 PM PST by TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig
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To: VadeRetro; *tech_index
Techies. Over here!

We live in amazing times.

I carry a Handspring Visor that has more computing power than the first 3 computers I owned. It weighs a few ounces and runs several days on a pair of AAA batteries.

What will these wireheads come up with next? I can't wait to find out.

8 posted on 11/08/2001 2:45:49 PM PST by LibKill
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To: big ern
Will this mean I Can Log In Faster???
9 posted on 11/08/2001 2:46:45 PM PST by Focault's Pendulum
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To: Focault's Pendulum
Yes but you will need a tiny keyboard and molecule size fingers....
10 posted on 11/08/2001 2:51:32 PM PST by Magnum44
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To: LibKill
I carry a Handspring Visor that has more computing power than the first 3 computers I owned. It weighs a few ounces and runs several days on a pair of AAA batteries.

Handspring Visor powerful!? Haha! Check out the new PocketPCs man. My "old" PocketPC (1.5yrs old) has 32mb RAM, 340mb Hard Drive, Stereo, 65,000 colors, 133mhz processor, 320x240 screen (can display up to 640x480). I've got the entire Star Wars Episode I movie I ripped from the DVD - in color, sound and all - that I play on my PocketPC. Talk about powerful!!!

I too am amazed and what is possible nowadays with technology and anxiously look forward to new breakthroughs. The future is in portable/pocket computers. As you know, once you've had one you'll never want to live without one. Never. They make the whole desktop PC paradigm archaic.

More info about PocketPCs: www.pocketpc.com, www.pocketpcthoughts.com, www.pocketpcpassion.com

11 posted on 11/08/2001 2:51:44 PM PST by Spiff
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To: Focault's Pendulum
Will this mean I Can Log In Faster???

Can you log in NOW?

"Doctor, with my broken arm, will I be able to play the piano?" "Sure, no problem." "Good, I always wanted to be able to play the piano..."

12 posted on 11/08/2001 2:52:49 PM PST by Amelia
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To: Spiff
Hmmm. Food for thought.
13 posted on 11/08/2001 2:54:01 PM PST by LibKill
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To: VadeRetro
Another giant leap for mankind.

While the Northern Alliance charges the Taliban with horse cavalry!

 America's Fifth Column ... watch PBS documentary JIHAD! In America -- here

 For better viewing download 8Mb file here

14 posted on 11/08/2001 3:12:17 PM PST by JCG
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To: VadeRetro
I have a quantum well device (an infrared mosaic image array) that uses monoatomic layers in the substrate sitting on my desk as a high tech display. :)
15 posted on 11/08/2001 3:53:01 PM PST by RadioAstronomer
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To: Spiff
65,000 colors

I always wondered how they counted all those colors? Tell me, can you tell the difference between green 155 and green 173?

16 posted on 11/08/2001 4:48:29 PM PST by TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig
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To: VadeRetro
Mind boggling for us guys who went through school without even a rudimentary calculator.
17 posted on 11/08/2001 4:59:30 PM PST by jmp702
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To: jmp702
Mind boggling for us guys who went through school without even a rudimentary calculator.

Yep. Somewhere, I may still have the plastic slide rule I had to buy in 1967 for my freshman Chemistry course. A couple years later, taking a course called Behavioral Statistics, I spent some time playing with a "calculator." It looked and sounded something like an old "ka-ching!" cash register.

18 posted on 11/08/2001 5:19:19 PM PST by VadeRetro
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To: VadeRetro
From the article:
Schon's team used "conjugated molecules" made out of a broth of carbon, hydrogen and sulfur. The solution is poured from a beaker onto gold electrodes, and the transistors form by themselves.

This sounds very much like I imagine the process for making life in a lab. Minus the sulfur, I suppose.

19 posted on 11/08/2001 5:25:57 PM PST by PatrickHenry
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To: VadeRetro
Nanotechnology is just around the corner. Somewhere Bill Joy and the Unabomber are cringing with fear!
20 posted on 11/08/2001 5:28:50 PM PST by StockAyatollah
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