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Single-Atom Transistor |
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A '''single-atom transistor''' is a device that can open and close an [[electrical circuit]] by the controlled and reversible repositioning of one single [[atom]]. The single-atom transistor was invented and first demonstrated in 2002 by Dr. Fangqing Xie in Prof. Thomas Schimmel's Group at the [[Karlsruhe Institute of Technology]] (former University of Karlsruhe).<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Xie | first1=F.-Q. | last2=Nittler | first2=L. | last3=Obermair | first3=Ch. | last4=Schimmel | first4=Th. | title=Gate-Controlled Atomic Quantum Switch | journal=Physical Review Letters | publisher=American Physical Society (APS) | volume=93 | issue=12 | date=2004-09-15 | issn=0031-9007 | doi=10.1103/physrevlett.93.128303 | page=128303| pmid=15447312 | bibcode=2004PhRvL..93l8303X }}</ref> By means of a small electrical voltage applied to a control [[electrode]], the so-called ''gate electrode'', a single silver atom is reversibly moved in and out of a tiny junction, in this way closing and opening an electrical contact.
Therefore, the single-atom transistor works as an atomic [[switch]] or atomic [[relay]], where the switchable atom opens and closes the gap between two tiny electrodes called ''source'' and ''drain''.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Xie | first1=Fang-Qing | last2=Obermair | first2=Christian | last3=Schimmel | first3=Thomas | title=Switching an electrical current with atoms: the reproducible operation of a multi-atom relay | journal=Solid State Communications | publisher=Elsevier BV | volume=132 | issue=7 | year=2004 | issn=0038-1098 | doi=10.1016/j.ssc.2004.08.024 | pages=437–442| bibcode=2004SSCom.132..437X }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1=Xie | first1=F.-Q. | last2=Maul | first2=R. | last3=Augenstein | first3=A. | last4=Obermair | first4=Ch. | last5=Starikov | first5=E. B. | last6=Schön | first6=G. | last7=Schimmel | first7=Th. | last8=Wenzel | first8=W. |display-authors=5| title=Independently Switchable Atomic Quantum Transistors by Reversible Contact Reconstruction | journal=Nano Letters | volume=8 | issue=12 | date=2008-12-10 | issn=1530-6984 | doi=10.1021/nl802438c | pages=4493–4497| pmid=19367974 | arxiv=0904.0904 | bibcode=2008NanoL...8.4493X | s2cid=5191373 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1=Obermair | first1=Ch. | last2=Xie | first2=F.-Q. | last3=Schimmel | first3=Th. | title=The Single-Atom Transistor: perspectives for quantum electronics on the atomic-scale | journal=Europhysics News | publisher=EDP Sciences | volume=41 | issue=4 | year=2010 | issn=0531-7479 | doi=10.1051/epn/2010403 | pages=25–28| bibcode=2010ENews..41d..25O | doi-access=free | url=https://www.europhysicsnews.org/10.1051/epn/2010403/pdf }}</ref> The single-atom transistor opens perspectives for the development of future atomic-scale logics and quantum electronics.
At the same time, the device of the Karlsruhe team of researchers marks the lower limit of [[miniaturization]], as feature sizes smaller than one atom cannot be produced [[Nanolithography|lithographically]]. The device represents a quantum transistor, the conductance of the source-drain channel being defined by the rules of [[quantum mechanics]]. It can be operated at room temperature and at ambient conditions, i.e. neither cooling nor vacuum are required.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Xie | first1=Fangqing | last2=Maul | first2=Robert | last3=Obermair | first3=Christian | last4=Wenzel | first4=Wolfgang | last5=Schön | first5=Gerd | last6=Schimmel | first6=Thomas | title=Multilevel Atomic-Scale Transistors Based on Metallic Quantum Point Contacts | journal=Advanced Materials | publisher=Wiley | volume=22 | issue=18 | date=2010-02-01 | issn=0935-9648 | doi=10.1002/adma.200902953 | pages=2033–2036| pmid=20544888 | bibcode=2010AdM....22.2033X | s2cid=28378720 | url=https://publikationen.bibliothek.kit.edu/1000018062/150079259 }}</ref>
Few atom transistors have been developed at [[Waseda University]] and at Italian CNR by Takahiro Shinada and Enrico Prati, who observed the Anderson–Mott transition{{clarification needed|date=July 2023}} in miniature by employing arrays of only two, four and six individually implanted [[Arsenic|As]] or [[Phosphorus|P]] atoms.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Prati | first1=Enrico | last2=Hori | first2=Masahiro | last3=Guagliardo | first3=Filippo | last4=Ferrari | first4=Giorgio | last5=Shinada | first5=Takahiro | title=Anderson–Mott transition in arrays of a few dopant atoms in a silicon transistor | journal=Nature Nanotechnology | publisher=Springer Science and Business Media LLC | volume=7 | issue=7 | year=2012 | issn=1748-3387 | doi=10.1038/nnano.2012.94 | pages=443–447| pmid=22751223 | bibcode=2012NatNa...7..443P }}</ref>
== See also ==
* [[QFET]] (quantum field-effect transistor)
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
== External links ==
* Beilstein TV Video of the Schimmel group: [http://www.beilstein.tv/tvpost/the-single-atom-transistor-perspectives-for-quantum-electronics-at-room-temperature/ The single-atom transistor – perspectives for quantum electronics at room temperature] (link offline)
[[Category:Transistors]]
[[Category:Condensed matter physics]]
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