US researchers at Stanford University in California have developed the world's first computer that uses transistors made from carbon nanotubes (CNTs) rather than silicon, it was announced Thursday.
The breakthrough would allow scientists to make computers that are smaller, faster and more efficient, even when silicon transistors cannot be shrunk any further.
"People have been talking about a new era of carbon nanotube electronics moving beyond silicon," one of the project leaders, Subhasish Mitra, said in a statement.
"But there have been few demonstrations of complete digital systems using this exciting technology. Here is the proof."
For decades, researchers have been shrinking the size of each transistor to pack more transistors on a chip, in line with the law postulated in 1965 by Intel founder Gordon Moore that the density of transistors would double roughly every two years.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
But as transistors become tinier, they waste more power and generate more heat - all in a smaller and smaller space, as evidenced by the heat emanating from the bottom of a laptop.
The world's most advanced chips now use 22-nanometre transistors.
These are so small that roughly 4,000 could fit on the width of a human hair. But the material's limitations mean that no further progress can be made once transistors are scaled down to 5 nanometres, which is expected to be reached sometime after 2020.
Because they use less power and are smaller than silicon circuits, carbon nanotubes could overcome this barrier, said Phillip Wong, another project leader.
"CNTs could take us at least an order of magnitude in performance beyond where you can project silicon could take us," Wong said.
