Computer Power User Article - Under Development

When Gordon Moore noted that the number of transistors one can cram into a given square of silicon doubles every 18 to 24 months, he hadn't yet foreseen the demise of optical lithography, the physics-dictated limit to today's CPU fabrication technologies. In the race to build smaller and faster transistor technology, much attention has been lavished on carbon nanotubes. These strands of carbon atoms, measuring less than 1/50,000 the width of a human hair, are the strongest and most conductive fibers known. However, it wasn't until May that researchers at IBM's Watson Research Center ( ) proved nanotubes could outperform silicon. In traditional silicon and metal chip technology, individual wires are subject to many resistive forces that interfere with electron movement, thus requiring more power and generating more heat. Because nanotubes are so thin, interfering forces can't bump electrons sideways. This lets designers create lower-power chips and chips with faster transistors. In an IBM announcement, the research group demonstrated it achieved the highest current-carrying capacity (transconductance) of any nanotube structure yet devised. This was done using single-wall CNFETs (carbon nanotube field-effect transistors) constructed similarly to MOSFETs (metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors), the transistor type common in today's world of integrated circuits. The team's