![]() Now, as a follow up step the researchers plan to design better and improved molecular cluster systems with better electrical performance, such as higher on/off current ratio and different accessible states, and increase the number of atoms in the cluster core, while maintaining the atomic precision and uniformity of the compound.Įlsewhere other studies into creating atomic scale and molecular scale transistors have used Quantum Dots, nanoscale semiconductor crystals of nanometre dimensions with distinctive conductive properties that are determined by its size, to produce similar effects, but the dots are much larger and aren’t uniform in size making it a problem to reproduce them in a repeatable manner – something that’s crucial if the technology is ever going to be mass produced.Īll this said though the ultimate size reduction for any transistor would ultimately be transistors made up of just a single atom, which would mean they’re less than 0.1nm in size, but at the moment using current technology they’d require ultra-cold temperatures of -196C in order to cancel out some of the electronic “leakage” effects which, at the moment, cripple the technology. “With these molecular clusters, we have complete control over their structure with atomic precision and can change the elemental composition and structure in a controllable manner to elicit certain electrical response,” says Latha Venkataraman, leader of the Columbia research team. ![]() The research was published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology. The team created a two-terminal transistor with a diameter of about 0.5 nanometers and a core that consisted of just 14 atoms, and the device can reliably switch from insulator to conductor when charge is added or removed, one electron at a time, something known as a “Current blockade.” Or to put it another way, an era of molecule sized electronics. Now, to demonstrate the point, a team at Columbia University have taken another big step on the road to creating atomically precise, reproducible transistors made from single molecules that can operate at room temperature, and the breakthrough will be a major milestone in helping us realise a new era of molecular electronics.
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