Computers from a single atom?

What is claimed to be the world's first single-atom-thick fabric has been created by researchers at Manchester University, in Britain, and Chernogolovka, in Russia.

It heralds the existence of a new class of materials that may lead to computers made from a single molecule.

The team, led by Prof Andre Geim, at Manchester has succeeded in extracting individual planes of carbon atoms from graphite crystals that has resulted in the production of the thinnest possible fabric, called graphene.

The atom-thick sheet is stable, highly flexible and strong and remarkably conductive. The nanofabric belongs to the family of fullerene molecules, which were discovered during the last two decades, but is described as the first two-dimensional (2D) fullerene.

The researchers are concentrating on the electronic properties of carbon nanofabric. The team has demonstrated an ambipolar field-effect transistor that works under ambient conditions.

They found that the nanofabric exhibits a remarkable quality such that electrons can travel without any scattering over sub-micron distances and which is important for making very fast switching transistors.

In the quest to make the computer chip more powerful and fast, engineers strive to produce smaller transistors, shortening the paths that electrons have to travel to switch the devices on and off.

Ultimately, scientists envisage transistors made from a single molecule, and this work brings that vision nearer.

Although the researchers are dealing with patches of graphene that are about 10 µm across, Prof Geim said computer engineers would need graphene wafers a few inches in size, before considering graphene as 'the next big thing'.

"All the omens are good, because there are no fundamental limitations on the lateral size of carbon nanofabric," he added.