A computer with transistor circuits made out of nanotubes of carbon instead of silicon. That is what researchers at Stanford University presented in the September 26, 2013 issue of the journal Nature. These cylindrical nanostructures, composed of a single sheet of carbon atoms, have the potential to surpass silicon in energy efficiency and computing potential due to their electrical, physical and thermal properties. What the researchers at Stanford, led by Max Shulaker, have been able to do is to align the nanotubes on quartz substrates like present-day circuits and leave them free of contaminant metal particulates that may harm the chips. The small computer has 178 transistors, each composed of 10 to 200 carbon nanotubes.
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