IBM has placed more than 10 thousand carbon nanotubes on the chip

In January 2012, IBM researchers successfully demonstrated the operation of a carbon nanotube transistor . Now the company has taken the next step in the mass production of new types of microcircuits. For the first time in the world, scientists were able to accurately place and test more than 10 thousand nanotubes on a single chip , using the standard process technology, which is used to manufacture modern processors. This is proof that in the future nanotubes can replace silicon transistors on chips. Thus, the miniaturization of microelectronics and the action of Moore's law will continue.


The density of the elements is about 1 billion per cm ²

It is no secret that silicon technologies are approaching their physical limit of miniaturization, when further size reduction becomes impossible. Therefore, the future of microelectronics depends on whether scientists can find the material to replace silicon. Carbon nanotubes are the ideal material for this purpose. These are extended cylindrical structures with a diameter of from one to several tens of nanometers and a length of up to several centimeters, consisting of one or several hexagonal graphite planes rolled into a tube. Nanotubes have more attractive electronic properties than silicon or any other semiconductor.
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The shape of nanotubes is also ideal for creating atomic-scale chips, including for designing new design options and for innovation.

During the experiment, engineers from IBM Research were able to place a large number of nanotubes in pre-prepared places on a silicon substrate. "Trenches" on the substrate were created using hafnium oxide (HfO ₂ ), after which the substrate was treated with an aqueous solution with nanotubes. Individual nanotubes were tied to the trenches and precisely fitted there due to chemical bonds with hafnium oxide, while the remaining areas of the substrate (SiO ₂ ) remained clean.




The ability to isolate nanotubes from each other and place them with high density (about a billion per square. Cm) is extremely important for the possibility of mass production of microchips. Until now, researchers managed to place only a couple of hundreds of nanotubes in isolation from each other, which is not enough to create a full-fledged microcircuit. So the new IBM experiment with more than 10 thousand nanotubes is a significant breakthrough.

This experiment is the first step in the real integration of nanotube transistors into an existing commercial technical process for manufacturing microchips.

The results of the experiment were published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology .