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Seven-atom transistor spells quantum leap for computing |
SYDNEY: Australian scientists unveiled
the world's smallest electronic switch measuring just a few atoms, which will
shrink microchips and revolutionize computing speeds.
The seven-atom
transistor, measuring four-billionths of a metre and embedded in a single
silicone crystal, is the first step in a "quantum computer" which will make
calculations millions of times faster than existing devices.
Lead
researcher Michelle Simmons said the technology has major implications for
code-breaking, financial transactions and weather forecasting, which involve
testing enormous numbers of possible scenarios.
"You'll be able to
solve problems that would take longer than the life of the universe with a
classical computer," she said.
The University of New South Wales'
Centre for Quantum Computer Technology (CQCT) and the University of
Wisconsin-Madison created the transistor by manipulating atoms using a special
microscope.
The breakthrough promises to reduce the size of
microchips, which contain billions of transistors, by up to 100 times,
simultaneously accelerating processing speeds
"exponentially".
"Australia's first computer was commissioned in
1949. It took up an entire room and you could hold its components in your
hands," Simmons said.
"Today you can carry a computer around in your
hand and many of its components are more than 1000 times smaller than the width
of a human hair.
"Now we have just demonstrated the world's first
electronic device in silicon systematically created on the scale of individual
atoms."
Simmons said commercial applications for the technology were
about five years away. Her team is now working towards the first ultra-fast
quantum computer, predicted to be the size of a current silicone
chip.
Using Simmons's system, the atoms of the quantum dot are
embedded in one silicon crystal. So far people have been working out how to make
such computers with more interesting materials, but Simmons chose silicon
because of its longer lifespan and because it would be compatible with existing
technology.
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.
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