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Carbon Nanotubes: Successor to Silicon-based Computing?

By Dick Weisinger

Tubes of carbon constructed at the nanometer scale have been found to have excellent electrical and thermal conductivity and tensile strength. These carbon nanotubes consist of hexagonally bound carbon atoms that form chicken-wire like cylinders.

Some are calling carbon nanotubes the successor to silicon and speculate that carbon nanotubes may drive another revolution in computers and electronics.

In September, researchers from MIT announced the creation of a carbon nanotube microprocessor built with 14,000 nanotubes.

Max Shulaker, MIT researcher said that “this is by far the most advanced chip made from any emerging nanotechnology that is promising for high-performance and energy-efficient computing. There are limits to silicon. If we want to continue to have gains in computing, carbon nanotubes represent one of the most promising ways to overcome those limits. [The research] completely reinvents how we build chips with carbon nanotubes.”

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