MURRAY HILL, N.J., Nov 19 (Reuters) - Bell Laboratories researchers said Wednesday they have built the world's tiniest practical transistor, or "nanotransistor".
Functioning as the research and development division of telecommunications equipment maker Lucent Technologies Inc <LU.N>, the Labs said in a statement that its experimental "nanotransistor" is four times smaller, five times faster and draws 60 to 160 times less power than today's transistors.
"The achievement paves the way for powerful new integrated circuits that pack many billions of transistors on a single silicon chip, as opposed to the millions on today's chips," the company said in a statement.
In microelectronics, chip features are measured in microns, or millionths of a meter; in nanoelectronics, chip features will be measured in nanometers, or billionths of a meter.
The ramifications of such a transistor could mean additional capabilities in wireless telephones, longer battery life because of less power consumption for consumer electronics and less weight for products like portable computers.
Bell researchers said that they and others have built very small transistors before, but claim it is the first one built this small with all the components scaled to deliver the kind of performance needed for a practical microchip.
Bell said the experimental "nanotransistor" exceeds today's transistors in such key measures as how much current flows through a transistor and much a transistor boosts a signal.
"The nanotransistor puts us way in front of the industry curve," said Pinto. "It is what the semiconductor industry predicts will become state-of-the-art 12 years from now." |
