Researchers Build Moore’s Law Defying Single Atom Transistor

Researchers have managed to create a transistor using just a single atom of phosphorous embedded in a silicon crystal.

Till now researchers have stumbled upon the challenge of building transistors based on single atoms.

However, scientists from the UNSW, University of Melbourne and Purdue team came up with a solution that is different in terms of engineering and that uses a repeatable technology.

The team has created a well-like structure, which uses the phosphorous atom as the building block and according to the team, they have been able to eliminate so-called positional uncertainties present in the single atom transistors.

Even though the new transistor is a single phosphorus atom, the whole structure is bigger in size and the atom must be placed within a well or channel inside a silicon crystal.

According to a research team member Gerhard Klimeck, the structure must be kept at -196°C for a stable operation. This may be a hurdle in terms of manufacturing initiatives and the invention may only be seen as a proof of principle for now reports Business Week.

Professor Michelle Simmons, group leader and director of the ARC Centre for Quantum Computation and Communication at the University of New South Wales said, "This is the first time anyone has shown control of a single atom in a substrate with this level of precise accuracy." reports TGDaily.

The exact position is achieved by picking one silicon atom from a group of six via scanning tunnelling electron microscope and then replacing that atom with a phosphorus atom. This may well be the defining moment when Moore's law has been defeated.