IBM, the world's largest computer company, on Monday will announce it has achieved a major breakthrough towards the eventual production of extremely small chips. Its researchers have successfully built the first ever computer circuit contained within a single molecule. This could eventually lead to the production of extremely fast computers using tiny amounts of electric power.
The circuit is known as a "voltage inverter" - also known as a "NOT" gate - one of three fundamental circuits used in computer chips. It was built from a carbon "nanotubes". This is a tube-shaped molecule consisting of carbon atoms and it has semiconductor properties, similar to those found in today's silicon-based chips.
IBM's researchers will present details of the development at the 222nd National Meeting of the American Chemical Society held this week in Chicago. It is part of IBM's research into nanotechnology - the science of building molecule-sized machines and structures.
Current silicon-based chips are expected to run into significant physical limits on how small they can be made within the next ten years. IBM, and others, are hopeful that carbon nanotube chips could eventually replace silicon chips. Smaller chips mean faster performance because electrons have shorter distances to travel and they consume less power.