Semiconductorless processors coming...?

[speciealpha]

I just want to give a shout out to the Newegg team, because i first saw this on their channel. 

 

Scientists led by Yoke Khin Yap at Michigan State University have developed transistors that do not need to use silicon or any other semiconductor material.  they instead used golden balls 3nm in diameter on a nanoinsulator. (no idea what a nanoinsulator is by the way)

 

"Imagine that the nanotubes are a river, with an electrode on each bank. Now imagine some very tiny stepping stones across the river.  The electrons hopped between the gold stepping stones. The stones are so small, you can only get one electron on the stone at a time. Every electron is passing the same way, so the device is always stable."

 

There are several possible advantages to this system over traditional processors.   First of all it can be run at room temperature. Second of all die sizes could be shrunk significantly smaller than silicon.  There is also no leakage, which is one of the main reasons modern processors get so hot and consume so much energy.

 

 

 

http://www.dailytech.com/New+LeakageFree+Nanotube+Quantum+Dot+Transistor+Uses+No+Semiconductors/article31832.htm

 

What do you guys think? Is this actually a step forward in processor technology?

 

EDIT: whoops i mean Michigan Tech not Michigan state

[IPCharger]

One step forward in superconductors. Really funny because I just finished reading a book from Michio Kaku 4 days ago that said that everything in the future will use superconductors.

[speciealpha]

One step forward in superconductors. Really funny because I just finished reading a book from Michio Kaku 4 days ago that said that everything in the future will use superconductors.

one of the great things about this process is that the materials do not have to be cooled to superconducting temperatures work like other semiconductor alternatives.

[Snickerzz]

how much more would it cost over silicon? 

[IPCharger]

one of the great things about this process is that the materials do not have to be cooled to superconducting temperatures work like other semiconductor alternatives.

Yeah that's the problem with a lot of superconductors.

[Beskamir]

I can't wait for CPU's to use this technology. also it always amuses me when some idiot on the news says that gold is only good for one thing....jewelry. when in actuality gold is one of the best conducters avialiable and is used in a wide range of technologies:)

[MJOLNITR VIPER]

how much more would it cost over silicon? 

Allot right now but should be cheaper in the future

[LonliestofAll]

The first use I see this for is low-power, small architecture such as ARM based processors for phones and mid to high end tablets.

[ivhyn]

I doubt gold is the right material for processors. I see gold prices to rise in the future and looking at how few of this material we got it would somehow be a waste to use it in consumer grade processors. There are lots of people who don't mind recycling, especially electronic devices, which would lead to an extended loss of conducting material, in this case gold. That leads to rising prices and since currency is bound to gold prices everything will cost more.

There's a lot silicon on the beaches, we just have to use it corfectly until we find an alternative that's more healthy to the economy.

Maybe Nasa finds a planet which only consists of gold so we only had to invent the warp- or ftl-drive to get there.

[pierrelucsav]

Remember just a few atoms are needed per bit. I don't think gold prices are going to be a problem here.

[Nicktrance]

Should be especially awesome for mobile technology.