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Wednesday, 26th August 2009 (4721 views)

A new method used to create a smooth gold surface as part of a "sandwich" with silicon and organic molecules could provide a significant boost to the miniaturisation of electronic chips, according to reports.

The technique was developed by researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) working with a team from the University of Maryland, Nanowerk stated.

Designers have been looking at using single molecules as switches for computer chips for a number of years, the site added, but previous techniques to get gold on to chip surfaces required it to be heated until it evaporates and condenses on a silicon surface.

However, this heat could often destroy the organic molecules being used in the switches.

A team led by materials scientist Mariona Coll Bau got around this problem by superheating gold and allowing it to condense on an ultra-smooth, non-stick surface.

The gold is then laminated with plastic so it can be peeled off and the molecules are attached. The entire assembly is then flipped onto a silicon base, sandwiching the intact molecules inside.

Molecule switches could be produced cheaply in "huge numbers" and would perform faster than silicon switches while using only a "tiny fraction" of their energy, the site noted.

The NIST is a US federal agency that was founded in 1901.

 

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