dant@mrloog.wr.tek.com (Dan Tilque) (07/23/90)
In the July 12 Science News, there is a report of a step forward in the attempt to construct molecular electronic devices (basically transistors from what I could tell, but they didn't call them that). A couple years ago, some scientist at IBM designed a molecule which should function about the same as a transistor. This report describes the construction of a similar molecule by a scientist at U of S. Carolina. The key difference seems to be that the ideal molecule has a silicon atom in its center and this one has a carbon there. The molecule is about 3 orders of magnitude smaller than what can currently be done on chips. However, some researchers think that quantum effects will keep the molecule from functioning as advertised. --- Dan Tilque -- dant@mrloog.WR.TEK.COM This post was done from memory, which is why there are no names in it. Please forgive any inaccuracies.