Nano switch hints at future chips (BBC)

[eppur_se_muova]

By Darren Waters
Technology editor, BBC News website

Researchers have built the world's smallest transistor - one atom thick and 10 atoms wide - out of a material that could one day replace silicon.

The transistor, essentially an on/off switch, has been made using graphene, a two-dimensional material first discovered only four years ago.

Graphene is a single layer of graphite, which is found in the humble pencil.

The transistor is the key building block of microchips and the basis for almost all electronics.

Dr Kostya Novoselov and Professor Andre Geim from The School of Physics and Astronomy at The University of Manchester have been leading research into the potential application of graphene in electronics and were the first to separate a sheet of the material from graphite.
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more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7352464.stm

[THUNDER HANDS]

1. wow

they must have used reeeeally small screwdrivers.

[UndertheOcean]

2. This is a breakthrough!

[On the Road]

3. How Does This Compare to Current Transistors?

I am assuming it is at least an order of magnitude smaller, perhaps more.