The development of molecule-sized components that could be used to build more powerful computers and miniaturized electrical devices may be a step closer to reality, according to a group of Purdue University researchers. This provides a new way of thinking about how such a small electrical device would work. You would never have to pass a whole lot of current through this structure, because the basic response you're trying to create is effected by just a single electron jumping. The achievement marks the first time a miniature unit based on single electron tunneling has been able to run at room temperature, and it provides a prototype for constructing molecule-sized electronic components. Details of the study were presented in July at the International Symposium on Small Particles and Inorganic Clusters, and were published in the May 31 issue of the journal Science .
Nanotechnology refers to components only a few nanometers in size.
A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter. Efforts to build such small electronic components have produced active elements on computer memory chips as small as 500 nanometers. But attempts to build smaller units have been hindered because current processes such as photolithography cannot create structures that small, and because of the heat buildup that occurs when electrical current passes through such small structures. If all the gates are open, there is no resistance, and the people all go rushing through. But with only one gate open, there is much more control, and only a single person passes through at a time.