New organic nano-wires may help replace silicon in computer chips

Organic nano-scale wires may serve as an alternative to silicon in computer chips, according to a collaborative team of Chinese and Danish researchers.

Nanochemists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Nano-Science Center, Department of Chemistry at the University of Copenhagen, say that they have created nanoscale electric contacts out of organic and inorganic nanowires.

The researchers say that they have crossed the wires like Mikado sticks in the contact, and coupled several contacts together in an electric circuit.

They say that doing so has enabled them to produce prototype computer electronics on the nanoscale.

Presently, the foundation of our computers, mobile phones and other electronic apparatus is silicon transistors.

A transistor is in principal an on- and off- contact, and there are millions of tiny transistors on every computer chip.

Thomas Bjornholm, Director of the Nano-Science Center, Department of Chemistry at University of Copenhagen said: "We have succeeded in placing several transistors consisting of nano-wires together on a nano device. It is a first step towards realisation of future electronic circuitry based on organic materials - a possible substitute for today's silicon-based technologies. This offers the possibility of making computers in different ways in the future."

The researchers have revealed that the material developed by them has a low operational current, high mobility and good stability, the qualities that can enable it to compete with silicon.

Excited over the results, Professor Wenping Hu, of Chinese Academy of Sciences, said: "This work is the first significant result of our collaboration with the researchers from the Nano-Science Center. It is a good starting point for our new Danish-Chinese research centre for molecular nano-electronics and it underlines the fact that we can complement each other and that together we can achieve exciting and important results."

A research article describing the study has been published in the journal Advanced Materials.

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