Published since 2008
Published on February 20, 2012
AUSTRALIAN PHYSICISTS DESIGN SINGLE-ATOM TRANSISTOR
- A team of Australian physicists has created the world's first functioning single-atom transistor, which could prove a critical building block toward the development of super-fast computers, ABC reports. The tiny electronic device, described today in a paper published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, uses as its active component an individual phosphorus atom patterned between atomic-scale electrodes and electrostatic control gates. While single-atom devices have been developed before, these had an error of about 10 nanometres in positioning of the atoms, which is large enough to affect functionality. Professor Michelle Simmons, group leader and director of the ARC Centre for Quantum Computation and Communication at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), says it is the first time "anyone has shown control of a single atom in a substrate with this level of precise accuracy". "Several groups have tried this, but if you want to make a practical computer in the long-term you need to be able to put lots of individual atoms in," she says. "Then you find the separation between the atoms is quite critical so you need to have atomic precision to do that, so then you can also bring electrodes in to address each of those individual atoms." Precise placement The UNSW team used a scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) to see and manipulate atoms at the surface of the crystal inside an ultra-high vacuum chamber. Using a lithographic process, they patterned phosphorus atoms into functional devices on the crystal, then covered them with a non-reactive layer of hydrogen. Hydrogen atoms were removed selectively in precisely defined regions with the super-fine metal tip of the STM. A controlled chemical reaction then incorporated phosphorus atoms into the silicon surface. Finally, the structure was encapsulated with a silicon layer and the device contacted electrically using an intricate system of alignment markers on the silicon chip to align metallic connects. The electronic properties of the device were in excellent agreement with theoretical predictions for a single phosphorus atom transistor. Lead author Dr Martin Fueschle says this individual position is very important if you want to use the transistor as a future quantum bit (or qbit). "If you want to have precise control at this level you need to position the individual atoms with atomic precision with respect to control gates and electrodes," he says. The device is also remarkable, says Dr Fuechsle, because its electronic characteristics exactly match theoretical predictions undertaken with Professor Gerhard Klimeck's group at Purdue University in the United Stastes and Professor Hollenberg's group at the University of Melbourne, the joint authors on the paper. Limits of Moore's Law The team also believes the use of silicon to encase the transistor increases its potential for future manufacturing. It is predicted that transistors will reach the single-atom level by about 2020 to keep pace with Moore's Law, which describes an ongoing trend in computer hardware that sees the number of chip components double every 18 months. "We really decided 10 years ago to start his program to try and beat that law," says Simmons. "So here we are in 2012 and we've made a single-atom transistor about 8-10 years ahead of where industry is going to be."
© Tert.am
Headlines for February 20, 2012FEBRUARY 20 - WORLD DAY OF SOCIAL JUSTICE
The United Nations (UN) World Day of Social Justice is observed every year on February 20.
It is a day recognizing the need to promote efforts to tackle issues such as poverty, exclusion andunemployment. ...EUROZONE MINISTER TO MEET ON GREEK RESCUE
Eurozone finance ministers are due to meet to decide whether Greece has done enough to merit a huge bailout loan, BBC News reported. Athens needs the €130bn in order to avoid bankruptcy in mid-March, ...IRAN STOPS OIL EXPORT TO BRITAIN AND FRANCE
Iran has stopped selling crude to British and French companies, the country's oil ministry said on Sunday, according to The Telegraph.
"Exporting crude to British and French companies has been stopped ...SPAIN SEES RALLIES AGAINST LABOR MARKET REFORMS
Mass protests have been held across Spain against the conservative government's labour market reforms, BBC News reported. The trade unions which organised the rallies said half a million protesters marched ...ARMENIAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH BEGINS GREAT LENT
After the Carnival, which was celebrated on Sunday, Christian begin a period of Great Lent. That's a period of fasting that lasts until Easter (48 days). This year, resurrection of Jesus Christ will ...GEORGIA SELECTS PARTICIPANT FOR EUROVISION 2012
Georgian singer Anri Jokhadze is going to represent the country in the Eurovision 2012 Song Contest set to take place Baku, Azerbaijan in May. According to the Georgian news website Aspny.ge, the singer ...GOOGLE TRANSLATES ‘I LOVE ARMENIA' AS 'I LOVE TURKEY'
Google's online translation service is translating "Ես սիրում եմ հայերին" (I love Armenians) to "I love Turkey." According to the Armenian Weekly, the mistranslation was pointed out to us by Lebanese ...PUTIN PLEDGES TO INCREASE RUSSIA'S MILITARY CAPACITY
Russia's armed forces will receive over 400 modern intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), more than 100 military spacecraft and over 2,300 new tanks within the next ten years, Prime Minister and ...GERMAN GOVT, OPPOSITION TO NOMINATE NEW PRESIDENT
Germany's government and the two major opposition parties said Sunday they would jointly nominate former East German human rights activist Joachim Gauck to be the country's next president, The Associated ...US CONGRESSMEN MEET ARMENIAN TOP OFFICIALS IN YEREVAN
A 15-member Congressional Delegation from the US House of Representatives headed by Chairman David Dreier met with President Serzh Sargsian and Speaker of Parliament Samvel Nikoyan on February 19. President ...EX OPPOSITIONIST NOT WILLING TO JOIN FREE DEMOCRATS
A former member of the opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC), Karapet Rubinyan, says he has not been asked to join the Free Democrats Party, but will decline any proposal of membership. Speaking ...JAPAN TRADE DEFICIT WIDENS TO RECORD
Japan posted a record trade deficit in January as the yen's strength and weaker global demand eroded manufacturers' profits and slowed the nation's recovery from last year's earthquake and tsunami, Bloomberg ...AUSTRALIAN PHYSICISTS DESIGN SINGLE-ATOM TRANSISTOR
A team of Australian physicists has created the world's first functioning single-atom transistor, which could prove a critical building block toward the development of super-fast computers, ABC reports. ...AZERBAIJANI ARMY LAUNCHES LARGE-SCALE DRILLS
The Azerbaijani armed forces have launched new military drills on the frontline, according to SalamNews.az. Citing the country's Defense Ministry, the website reports that the exercises, headed by Minister ...REPUBLICAN MP: THEY REALIZED KARABAKH'S INDEPENDENCE IS IRREVERSIBLE
The participants of the conference dedicated to the 20th anniversary of Nagorno-Karabakh's independence realized that the country's independence in now an irreversible fact, a lawmaker of the ruling Republican ...PUBLIC VS BUSINESS OVER ARMENIAN CAPITAL'S GREEN AREAS
Well-known people, political and public figures, arrived at Yerevan's Mashtots park on Sunday. Hovhannes Azoyan (an actor and showman) says: "If you do not plant a tree, do not at least destroy it. It ...ANC TO HAVE CANDIDATES IN ALL CONSTITUENCIES
The opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC) is going to nominate candidates in all the constituencies of Armenia, an activist has said. Levon Zurabyan, the coordinator of the opposition alliance, ...ARMENIAN MP FALLS, COMES BACK IN PLASTER CAST
Styepa Safaryan, a Heritage parliamentary group member, is in hospital now. He has told Tert.am that, last Friday, he fell and broke his hand in Moskovyan Str., in Yerevan.UYL ADDRESSES OPEN LETTER TO ARMENIAN PRESIDENT
The United Youth League (YUL) movement has addressed an open letter to Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan. In its letter, the movement calls on the president to deal with the problem of Yerevan's Mashtots ...BAKO SAHAKYAN CONGRATULATES PEOPLE ON REVIVAL DAY
President of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR, Artsakh) Bako Sahakyan has congratulated his people on the country's Revival Day. The full text of his congratulatory address is below: Dear compatriots,
On ...ENVIRONMENTALISTS CALL FOR MEETING WITH MAYOR (PHOTOS)
A crowd of environmental activists has gathered in front of the Yerevan City Hall to continue its protest against the construction work in Mashtots Park. Around 200 people outside the building are calling ...ALCOHOL TO KILL 200,000 IN BRITAIN IN 20 YEARS
More than 200,000 people could die early from alcohol abuse in the next 20 years if trends continue, studies have revealed.
According to Metro.co.uk, about 70,000 of these preventable deaths in England ...OPPOSITION REP COMPARES ARMENIA ELECTIONS TO EPISODE IN GLADIATOR
The Armenia elections resemble the episode in the film Gladiator: the Roman emperor inflicts a wound on the gladiator before inviting him to a single combat. "The authorities are doing their utmost for ...NABUCCO PROJECT TO BE DOWNSIZED
The Nabucco consortium is considering a much smaller project than the originally planned pipeline to carry Caspian natural gas to Europe, bowing to the reality of low gas amounts available at the moment ...TURKEY DROPS SUPPORT FOR EUROPA RACE
Turkey has dropped its support for a prestigious sailing race in the wake of France's decision to approve a bill criminalizing denial of the Armenian genocide, Hurriyet Daily News reported.
Olay Nautic, ...ARMENIAN RULING PARTY MP ADMITS VOTING VIOLATIONS
Vardan Aivazyan, an MP of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) does not deny the fact of his partymates voting in place of others. "I saw. But I myself did not do so," he told journalists on ...ARMENIAN HACKER GROUP ATTACKS OVER 20 AZERI SITES
A group of unnamed cyber attackers calling themselves Armenian Cyberbank are reported to have hacked over 20 Azerbaijani websites. According to the Armenian service of RFE/RL, the hackers have left a ...DASHNAK MP SENDS LETTER TO PRESIDENT AMID ENVIRONMENTAL PROTEST
While environmentalists continue their protest in Yerevan's Mashtots Park, Vahan Hovhannisyan, a member of the opposition Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaksutyun (ARF-D) faction in parliament, ...ARMENIAN RULING PARTY REP STILL UNDECIDED
Vardan Aivazyan, an MP of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), has not yet decided which of the voting systems he is going to run for parliament in. At his Monday meeting with journalists, he ...ARMENIAN MPS OBJECT TO ‘ARTIFICIAL YOUTHIFICATION' OF PARLIAMENT
Armenia's parliament must have young members unless it is done artificially, Menua Harutyunyan, a member of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), told journalists on Monday. "If a potential criminal ...ARMENIAN FM MEETS WITH ARMY COMMAND
On Monday, at the Ministry of Defense, Armenian FM Edward Nalbandian participated in a traditional meeting with of the top officials of Armenia's Ministry of Defense and commanders of Armenia's armed ...AZERI MPS TO VISIT ARMENIA
Azay Guliev, Faraj Guliev and Rovshan Rzaev, members of the Azerbaijani Milli Majlis, are to arrive in Armenia to participate in a sitting of the Committee on Social Affairs, Education, Culture and Civil ...
© Tert.am
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© AUA
Today in Armenian history- 1728 Death of General Davit Bek.
- 1862 Defense of Van against Turkish exactions and terrorism.
- 1904 Birth of Abraham Alikhanov in Tbilisi (Georgia). He became a physicist and an academician of the USSR. In 1940, he organized the first expedition to Mount Elbrus to explore Cosmic Rays. He made many basic discoveries in this area.
- 1908 Inauguration of the Ulukhanlu-Julfa railroad.
- 1936 Death of Alexander Tamanyan (architect) in Yerevan. He was born in 1878.
- 1940 Death of public figure Stepan Yessayan. He was one of the founders of "Pan-National" Cultural Organization of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Party.
- 1988 The Autonomous Region (oblast) of Nagorno Gharabagh applies to the Supreme Soviets of Armenia, Azerbaijan and the USSR to consider and resolve positively the question of handing over Nagorno Karabagh from Soviet Azerbaijan to Soviet Armenia.
- 1988 The Regional Council of Deputies from Artsakh decides to be reintegrated with Armenia.
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