Universal Transistor Could Enable Much Smaller Circuits
German researchers claim to have developed the first transistor that can configure itself to either being a n-type or p-type field-effect transistors (FETs). Current CMOS transistors are locked into a static state of being a p- or n-type transistor.
According to Physorg.com, the research "Synthetic nanowires are used to realize the proof-of-principle" was recently published in an issue of the journal Nano Letters and could lead to smaller semiconductors that require far fewer transistors than today's devices. While the research is in its nascent stages, the scientists claim that their dynamic transistor revealed encouraging electrical characteristics, "including a record on/off ratio and reduced leakage current compared to conventional nanowire FETs," Physorg wrote. Future work will focus on improving the transistor's performance.
According to the scientists, the reconfigurable transistor is "enabled by employing an axial nanowire heterostructure (metal/intrinsic-silicon/metal) with independent gating of the Schottky junctions." Other than traditional field-effect transistors, their invention uses "selective and sensitive control" of charge carrier injections at each Schottky junction to monitor "charge carrier polarity and concentration". This feature would allow the FETs to be reconfigured during their operation and execute virtually any Boolean logic computations and provide more design flexibility for hardware engineers.
Now, THAT"S something that is worth a patent!
Now, THAT"S something that is worth a patent!
I'm not 100% sure on this, but the basics are that if this works, any electronic device that relies on transistors could be manufactured cheaper and smaller becuase of not needing to include current switching technology. In other words, future devices like various PC components can be made even smaller and more efficient. How much? That I do not know.
Basically, better power use and less lose of power in electric components.
The satisfying knowledge of a job well done.
Be a proactive reader, not passive, no matter how bland the material is.....
I was a bit confused, but it makes sense now. lol
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I did.
SoH DIchDaq ghoj tlhIngan joq Hegh!
I'm not sure why, but I laughed. Thank you sir.
I'm not sure where you studied, but this is false. In modern digital IC's, CMOS is absolutely used. The industry abandoned pure NMOS and pseduo-NMOS back in the early 80's due to power concerns and switching characteristics. In general, yes, you get better drive strength, etc. with NMOS vs. PMOS due to the differences in electron vs. hole mobility, thus leading to the sizing disparity you cited. But that difference is a fact that digital IC designer have lived with for 30+ years. To say that no one uses p-type transistors is crazy.
You need to read the article closer. The novel advance is not relying on dopant concentrations to determine p-type vs. n-type. Instead, they are relying on a mechansim to modulate the charge carrier injection directly at the Schottky junction. In other words, they have a structure which allows the device to change whether electrons or holes are the majority carriers directly at the junction, thus determing whether it is configured as n-type or p-type.
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Yep, I saw that too...
I just fed that into Google translate - it didn't recognize it.
Google, a Klingon translator would make a great easter egg.
Why don't they work on massproducing what they have, if it's already superior to existing technology? I keep hearing about supposedly revolutionary things being developed, but nothing ever gets released. If it is too expensive to manufacture such radically different technology, then they should research improved manufacturing processes.