A new type of transistor
SOLUTION FOR NEXT GENERATION NANOCHIPS COMES OUT OF THIN AIR.
Instead of sending electrical currents through silicon, it sends electrons through narrow air gaps, where they can travel unimpeded as if in space.
The device eliminates the use of a semiconductor, making it faster and less prone to heating
up.
“Every computer and phone has millions to billions of electronic transistors made from silicon, but this technology is reaching its physical limits where the silicon atoms get in the way of the current flow, limiting speed and causing heat,” lead author Shruti Nirantar said.
“Our air channel transistor technology has the current flowing through air, so there are no collisions to slow it down and no resistance in the material to produce heat.” The design solved a flaw in traditional solid channel transistors – they are packed with
atoms, according to the team. This means electrons passing through them collide, slow down and waste energy as heat.
While this solution makes transistors faster, it makes them much bigger. To counter this the team created a nanoscale gap between two metal points which fools the electrons into thinking they’re travelling through a vacuum and re-creates a virtual outer-space for electrons within the nanoscale air gap.
The nanoscale device is designed to be compatible with fab and development processes
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