X-Message-Number: 33334
Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2011 04:04:01 +0100
Subject: Scientists build first reprogrammable nanoprocessor
From: =?UTF-8?Q?Jonathan_Despr=C3=A9s?= <>



http://www.smartplanet.com/technology/blog/science-scope/scientists-build-first-reprogrammable-nanoprocessor-from-nano-tools/6725/

Five decades ago, physicist Richard Feynman thought of building tiny
computers from atoms and molecules. In theory, the smaller we could
make electronic components, the more memory the computer chip would
have.

Researchers at Harvard University might have brought us that much
closer to controlling matter on the atomic level. Harvard scientists
announced the world's first prototype of a reprogrammable circuit made
with nanowire transistors.

Technically, the nano-circuit could shrink the design of modern
electronics and bring on a whole new class of small sensors and
consumer gadgets. It would change how electronics are produced. But
here, the scientists proved that it is feasible to make nanoprocessors
with a bottoms-up approach, a way of building electronics by starting
at the molecular level.

The idea is to get the nanowires to self-assemble from atoms to make a
microchip. The atoms and molecules re-organize themselves into more
complex structures, the same way life assembles.

In this case, the Harvard researchers got the reprogrammable
nanoprocessor to perform basic arithmetic and logical functions. It's
an energy saver too. Once the chip is programmed, it doesn't require
any extra electrical power to store memory.

Charles Lieber, a Harvard professor, said in a statement:

This work represents a quantum jump forward in the complexity and
function of circuits built from the bottom up, and thus demonstrates
that this bottom-up paradigm, which is distinct from the way
commercial circuits are built today, can yield nanoprocessors and
other integrated systems of the future.

The researchers published their results in the journal Nature.

The applications of microprocessors are endless: high-performance
materials, sustainable chemistry, energy production and storage,
information processing, miniaturized engineering, healthcare and the
environment. Circuits built at the atomic level might soon be used to
build a new generation of smaller, faster electronics.

It seems inevitable. The computer chips keep getting smaller and smaller.

"A decade ago, the transistors that make up integrated circuits were
being built at a scale of 500 nanometers; today, the latest PCs
contain Intel chips with transistors only tens of nanometers across.
IBM is already planning to print circuitry on the 30-nanometer scale
using new ultra lithography," according to a report put out by The
Institute of Physics.

A scientist at MITRE, who worked with the Harvard folks, said:

Because of their very small size and very low power requirements,
these new nanoprocessor circuits are building blocks that can control
and enable an entirely new class of much smaller, lighter weight
electronic sensors and consumer electronics.

If you're still curious about how the nanoprocessor was made, you can
check out the details in  Nature. The Harvard nanoprocessor is
exciting news, as it shows that it is possible to build computer parts
from nano tools and showed that it can be programmed to do math.
Building the computer components this way is very different than the
way your laptop and smart phone are made. In this system, the
nanowires were stitched together to make a programmable microchip.

However, the scientists would have to make the nanoprocessor on a
large scale, for it to infiltrate the electronics space. Hopefully, we
won't have to wait another 50 years, before the famed physicist's
dream of building nanocomputers is achieved. We're getting there...
slowly. On the upside, the researchers do claim the process is
scalable.

Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=33334