New Technology Uses Nanotransistors By Edwin L. Aguirre As
smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices become
increasingly popular, finding ways to make them even smaller in
size, run a lot faster and consume far less power has become the
holy grail for semiconductor researchers worldwide. Electrical
engineering Prof. Martin Margala , together with his former
graduate student Vikas Kaushal and collaborators from the
Universidad de Salamanca in Spain and North Carolina State
University, are moving one step closer to achieving that goal
with their work on “ballistic deflection transistors ,” or BDTs.
These unique, super-fast nanochips will form the building blocks
for the next-generation ultrahigh-speed computers and electronic
circuits. “Such a nanotransistor would operate a thousand times
faster — in the terahertz range — and consume extremely low
power and generate far less heat compared to conventional
transistors,” says Margala, a senior member of the Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IE