future amplifiers composed of benzene ring transistors?

[()smoke()]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34826143...ience-science/

...and here i though 3 lbs and the size of a small book was micro

[stratovani]

I just read the article, and towards the end they said that it's still about 10 years away in terms of usable technology, but believe me, that 10 years will go by real fast, then the technological developments (made possible by the benzene transistor) that come will make people's heads spin!

[()smoke()]

amazing marketing opportunity for Genz Benz(ene) here.

[PSPookie]

Definitely cool (no pun intended). It will be interesting to see how this technology develops.

[elgecko]

That's an amazing advancement but benzene is a known carcinogen

[lycanbreed7]

Originally Posted by elgecko

That's an amazing advancement but benzene is a known carcinogen

There are so many things around you right now that full of dangerous toxins. Whats one more. Heck how long has there been asbestos in the brakes on your car? What about the radio waves buzzing around your head when you talk on a cell phone? The list goes on. We as humans have so poisoned our environment around us it's not funny. Have you broken a florescent light bulb lately? MERCURY!!!!

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Originally Posted by elgecko

That's an amazing advancement but benzene is a known carcinogen

Good thing people don't tend to chew on IC's then isn't it ?

The problem with things like this is that the wires/tracks used to connect transistors this small are generally much larger and can be limiting.

The other issue is mass producing these with any deal of consistancy. Creating a couple in a lab is one thing, but certainly going to be limits in production speed.

(the way in which transistors have been made on the small scale hasnt changed much in years, just small tweaks and advances in photolithography)

Also, the problem you have with any single electron transistor (well, I'm assuming that is how it functions) is that the effects of quantum tunneling become a major problem. A few stray electrons when you are dealing with millions of the blighters isn't going to change anything, but strays when dealing with only a handful (or just one for switching) could potentially cause a whole host of problems!

[PSPookie]

Originally Posted by elgecko

That's an amazing advancement but benzene is a known carcinogen

True, but it contains no trans fats.

[elgecko]

Originally Posted by lycanbreed7

There are so many things around you right now that full of dangerous toxins. Whats one more. Heck how long has there been asbestos in the brakes on your car? What about the radio waves buzzing around your head when you talk on a cell phone? The list goes on. We as humans have so poisoned our environment around us it's not funny. Have you broken a florescent light bulb lately? MERCURY!!!!

Valid points but asbestos is no longer used in building materials and is being phased out of brake pads. When's the last time you put leaded gasoline in your car or painted with lead-based paint? PCBs are no lonegr used in transistors.

Just because we've already trashed the earth isn't an excuse to keep doing it. The trick is to learn from our past mistakes.

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Originally Posted by elgecko

Valid points but asbestos is no longer used in building materials and is being phased out of brake pads. When's the last time you put leaded gasoline in your car or painted with lead-based paint? PCBs are no lonegr used in transistors.

Just because we've already trashed the earth isn't an excuse to keep doing it. The trick is to learn from our past mistakes.

Well you'll be most disappointed to find out there is also work using carbon nanotubes in transistors. Not to mention the use of very nasty nanoparticles (such as cadmium selenide QD's) in potential cancer treatments.

As long as devices created in a safe manner it isn't a problem. When bound in the CPU, it isn't like the benzene is going to start leaking out to the water table.

The "regulation" levels of benzene in drinking water is 5 parts per billion in the US (some states are stricter, bringing down to 1ppb and lower in some cases). In the EU it is 1ppb.

1 pint = ~568ml.

Assuming an approximatley pure sample (at standard atmospheric pressure and room temperature).

~568ml = ~568g

Molecular weight of water = ~18

568g/18 = ~31.5 moles of water in a pint.

31.5 x 6x10^23 = 1.89x10^25

The limit of 1 ppb would be:

(1.89x10^25) / (1 x10^9)

= 1.89x10^16

Now, I'm not sure the number of transistors they would stick on each processor. But considering current processors have in the region of 700-800 million transistors (this may be wrong), which is 7 or 8 x10^8.

Now, I'm not saying that benzene isn't bad for you, it is. But be realistic. Drinking a pint of tap water could hold significantly more benzene in it (and still be within government "safe" regulations) than one of these next gen processors would.

If the number of transistors was to stay the same, you would need the benzene levels in water to be ~ 0.000000001 ppb or less.

(numbers rounded, been a long day, but either way, when looking at however many millions of individual molecules would be on a processor using benzene, it is still trivial compared to what you come into contact with on a daily basis.)

[elgecko]

Originally Posted by i_got_a_mohawk

Good thing people don't tend to chew on IC's then isn't it ?

The problem with things like this is that the wires/tracks used to connect transistors this small are generally much larger and can be limiting.

The other issue is mass producing these with any deal of consistancy. Creating a couple in a lab is one thing, but certainly going to be limits in production speed.

(the way in which transistors have been made on the small scale hasnt changed much in years, just small tweaks and advances in photolithography)

Bingo! These devices likely wouldn't present an immediate hazard to the end user. The problem comes with with mass production. The potential for impacting groundwater becomes a realistic scenario given the volume necessary to mass produce them.

[elgecko]

Originally Posted by i_got_a_mohawk

Well you'll be most disappointed to find out there is also work using carbon nanotubes in transistors. Not to mention the use of very nasty nanoparticles (such as cadmium selenide QD's) in potential cancer treatments.

Actually, that makes me very happy since nasty compounds in air/soil/and groundwater put food on my table.

Originally Posted by i_got_a_mohawk

As long as devices created in a safe manner it isn't a problem.

That's the key!