7 Atom Transistor sets the pace for future PCs |
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MartinW
Moderator in Command Joined: 31 Mar 2008 Location: United Kingdom Points: 26722 |
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Posted: 25 May 2010 at 8:45am |
Prof Simmons and her colleagues have swapped silicon atoms for phosphorus
Researchers have shown off a transistor made from just seven atoms that could be used to create smaller, more powerful computers. Transistors are tiny switches used as the building blocks of silicon chips. If the new atomic transistor can be made in large numbers it could mean chips with components up to 100 times smaller than on existing processors. The Australian creators of the transistor hope it is also a step towards a solid-state quantum computer. The transistor is not the smallest ever created as two research groups have previously managed to produce working single-atom transistors. However, the device is many times smaller than the components found in chips in contemporary computers. On chips where components are 22 nanometres in size, transistor gates are about 42 atoms across. The working transistor was created by replacing seven atoms in a silicon crystal with phosphorus atoms. "Now we have just demonstrated the world's first electronic device in silicon systematically created on the scale of individual atoms," said Professor Michelle Simmons, lead researcher on the project at the University of New South Wales. Moore's Law predicts that the amount of memory that can fit on a given area of silicon, for a fixed cost doubles every 12-18 months. The limit of this prediction is being tested as components get ever smaller and their computationally useful properties become less reliable. If an entire chip could be made with every one of its billions of transistors made from the silicon crystals, it could mean an "exponential" leap in processing power, said Professor Simmons. |
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Cpt Maximus
Check-In Staff Joined: 01 Dec 2009 Points: 11 |
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Whoa! A machine built with this level of tech should run FSX quite nicely.
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Captain Maximus - TransEastAfrica Cargo
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Magic Man
Chief Pilot Joined: 02 Apr 2008 Location: South Wales Points: 5336 |
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Not really, it would 'just' mean the chip could be smaller. The chip design and architecture would need to evolve to take advantage of the smaller scale in order to potentially give increased processing power in the same size package as current tech.
Good though...
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MartinW
Moderator in Command Joined: 31 Mar 2008 Location: United Kingdom Points: 26722 |
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We're even correcting professors now.
She did say ''could mean'' professor Magic. Thats could mean, as in, could lead to if...
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MartinW
Moderator in Command Joined: 31 Mar 2008 Location: United Kingdom Points: 26722 |
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Now thats just plain silly, what do you think it is super advanced alien technology from an alternate reality, the product of beings with brains 1000 times more advanced than ours?
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VulcanB2
Chief Pilot Joined: 02 Apr 2008 Points: 13365 |
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It is the abuse of the words "processing power" that is the problem.
Many people think that processing power is speed related. Processors aren't really that more advanced now than they were 10 years ago. The biggest advancement is in how fast they can do the same computations they've always done. To me, processing power relates to how efficiently they can do something, not how fast they can do something. Intel poisoned the minds of most people in making them believe faster = more powerful. It doesn't mean that at all. Faster = the same done in less time. Efficient = the same done in less time at the same speed. Best regards, Vulcan. |
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papeg
Chief Pilot Joined: 25 Mar 2009 Location: CA Points: 1434 |
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I wonder if this would be more resistant to static discharge or EMP damage?
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Greg
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MartinW
Moderator in Command Joined: 31 Mar 2008 Location: United Kingdom Points: 26722 |
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Hmm... lets ask the guys who EMP'd CTU, it irritated jack Bauer's pals something rotten. they should know.
Seriously, if and when this technology makes it into a device, then no, in my opinion I don't think it would make it less vulnerable to EMP. The technology still has electrons whizzing around conductors, and EM fields can still induce current in the conductors and zap it.
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VulcanB2
Chief Pilot Joined: 02 Apr 2008 Points: 13365 |
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Electronics used in critical applications are already hardened against such things.
Best regards, Vulcan. |
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MartinW
Moderator in Command Joined: 31 Mar 2008 Location: United Kingdom Points: 26722 |
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They are Pointy, they have been for years. Not sure about a full blown EMP weapon though. Especially something that might be classified.
Not sure how powerful such devices are. They demonstrated one on Future Weapons that was very powerful.
I used to operated a photo-mechanical printing machine made by Agfa. When we first installed the big boy, we had all sorts of issues with the electronics.
Agfa engineers came out and replaced the chip with one made to military specs that couldn't be jammed. All was well.
It was actually the transmissions from the nearby post office tower in Birmingham that was the culprit.
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Magic Man
Chief Pilot Joined: 02 Apr 2008 Location: South Wales Points: 5336 |
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At least, that's what they told you when they replaced a bad chip with a good one with a sticker on it and charged you 10 times the amount for it - then told you it was the post office tower causing interference (wasn't Pointy was it...?)
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MartinW
Moderator in Command Joined: 31 Mar 2008 Location: United Kingdom Points: 26722 |
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Good Point... swines.
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