Design of a molecular Field Effect Transistor (mFET)

TL;DR

This paper proposes an atomically precise molecular FET (mFET) made of hydrogen and carbon atoms, demonstrating potential for ultra-small, high-performance computing devices through quantum chemical analysis.

Contribution

It introduces a novel design of a molecular FET with detailed atomic structure and discusses component optimization using quantum chemical methods.

Findings

Potential for 10^25 switching operations per second with 10^18 mFETs

Design integrates carbon nanotubes and Lonsdaleite for conduction and insulation

Component assessment methods are discussed in detail

Abstract

Field Effect Transistors (FETs) are ubiquitous in electronics. As we scale FETs to ever smaller sizes, it becomes natural to ask how small a practical FET might be. We propose and analyze an atomically precise molecular FET (herein referred to as an "mFET") with 7,694 atoms made only of hydrogen and carbon atoms. It uses metallic (4,4) carbon nanotubes as the conductive leads, a linear segment of Lonsdaleite (hexagonal diamond) as the channel, Lonsdaleite as the insulating layer between the channel and the gate, and a (20,20) metallic carbon nanotube as the surrounding gate. The (4,4) nanotube leads are bonded to the channel using a mix of 5- and 6-membered rings, and to the gate using 5-, 6- and 7-membered rings. Issues of component design assessment and optimization using quantum chemical methods are discussed throughout. A 10 watt sugar-cube-sized computer made with $10^{18}$ such mFETs could deliver $\sim 10^{25}$ switching operations per second.