When the chips are down, computers respond faster

The field of nanotechnology has grown rapidly in the past few decades, with advances in chemistry and the physics of light, permitting the creation of tiny molecular circuits. University researcher and NanoStructure Laboratory head Stephen Chou has pushed the envelope further than ever before, adapting the common shop technique of "stamping" circuits to the nano scale.

Chou's method involves an ultrafast stamping process that imprints directly on the surface of a chip patterns that are one nanometer, one-thousandth of a billionth of a meter wide. The stamp easily penetrates the heated silicon, which is then left with a negative impression upon cooling.

This impression creates the structure for a nanocircuit that would have been too complex to create using standard "photolithographic" methods.

Photolithographic techniques use varying wavelengths of light to produce features of varying detail. As circuits get smaller, manufacturing requires higher levels of research and development and finer instrumentation.

"We can create detail at the level of 10 nanometers on the silicon," said Chou, who is out of the country, of his laser-assisted direct imprinting technique in a New York Times interview. Such precisely fashioned detail would be exceedingly difficult to manufacture using standard methods.

As described in Chou's Nature article, a pulse of ultraviolet laser is passed through quartz onto the surface of the silicon. Quartz is able to transmit UV radiation.

Upon contacting the surface of the silicon, the ultraviolet laser melts a fine layer which is then stamped by the mold to create a finely detailed nanochip.

Advances in nanotechnology promise to revolutionize the way electronics influence daily life. Already a slew of companies are looking into creating "wearable technology" — a line of electronics that are embedded into the fabric of ordinary clothing.

Gadgets like MP3 players and cellphones could be woven into jogging shorts or fleece jackets, allowing joggers and athletes to enjoy the benefits of technology without the weight or inconvenience of belt clips or backpacks.

As nanochips develop, computers will likely see great change as well. Current motherboards — green, silicon-embedded boards that house many of the essential components of a PC — now measure approximately one-and-a-half square feet.

If nanotechnology were employed in consumer PC production, the sizes of such components would be drastically reduced, in many cases to less than half their current size.