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Technology Stocks : HWP -- Hewlett Packard -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kirk © who wrote (3128)	7/16/1999 11:00:00 AM
From: William Partmann	Respond to of 4722

Chemical Process May Aid Computers NEW YORK (AP) - Researchers have developed a chemical process that could lead to computer components no thicker than a single molecule, an important step toward the creation of new, ultrafast machines. The team from the Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE:HWP - news) and the University of California at Los Angeles say their work could ultimately lead to computers 100 billion times faster than today's most powerful personal computers. Their findings were published today in Science magazine. Until now, integrated circuits - the on-off switches that are the basis for computing - have been made by etching silicon wafers with beams of light. The ability to shrink those circuits is limited by the wavelength of light. But the researchers said they found a way to construct the circuits using a chemical process, making the switches as small as a molecule. They believe the process could lead to components much smaller than today's smallest transistors. Smaller transistors consume less power and generally switch on and off more quickly. They also can be produced in greater quantities without raising production costs. The technology ''holds the promise of vast data storage capability,'' Phil Kuekes, a physicist and computer designer at Hewlett-Packard, said in today's New York Times, which reported the study along with The Wall Street Journal. The team used chemicals to coax molecules with the necessary electrical characteristics into specific positions, much like getting puzzle pieces into the right positions. The researchers said their findings are only a first step. For example, the current device can switch only from one state to another and cannot switch repeatedly, which it must do if it is to replace silicon-based chips. Still, computer researchers lauded the advance, calling it a sign of the rapid acceleration of a new field known as moletronics or molecular electronics. James Heath, a UCLA chemistry professor who worked on the project, said the technology might eventually replicate the power of 100 computer work stations in a space the size of a grain of salt. The technology also is promising as a means of prolonging the electronics boom. As advances in silicon chip technology approach its physical limit - expected within 15 years - molecular electronics could continue the steady rise in computing power.