What ultra-tiny nanocircuits can do
Engineers and scientists collaborating at Harvard University and the MITRE Corp. have developed and demonstrated the world’s first programmable nanoprocessor. The groundbreaking prototype computer system, described in a paper appearing today (Feb. 9) in the journal Nature, represents a significant step forward in the complexity of computer circuits that can be assembled from synthesized nanometer-scale components. It also represents an advance because these ultra-tiny nanocircuits can be programmed electronically to perform a number of basic arithmetic and logical functions. “This work represents a quantum jump forward in the complexity and function of circuits built from the bottom up, and thus demonstrates that this bottom-up paradigm, which is distinct from the way commercial circuits are built today, can yield nanoprocessors and other integrated systems of the future,” says principal investigator Charles M. Lieber, who holds a joint appointment at Harvard’s Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology and School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. The work...