The recent demonstration by IBM's lab in Zurich to show the image of a complete molecule is a huge step forward for molecular computing and a fantastic demonstration of a key technology - atomic force microscopy (AFM).
Building computing devices with individual molecules as switches has been the long term aim of the research since the development of AFM in 1985 and the iconic manipulation of individual atoms at the labs in 1990. Now the labs have produced a detailed image of a pentacene molecule in all its glory, showing the atoms and the bonds between them, which will allow prototype molecular-scale switches and memory cells to be built, potentially making systems dramatically smaller and faster.
But it has taken 20 years to get from the atom to the molecule, so don't expect a huge breakthrough any time soon. In the meantime AFM is being used in a number of different ways for different areas.
Infinitesima is a startup out of the University of Bristol that has taken the idea of AFM and found ways to speed it up dramatically so that is can take video at the atomic level.
One of the advantages of AFM over the original scanning tunnelling microscopy is that it doesn't require a vacuum, so it can be used to look at organic materials. Having a video capability at these molecular resolutions then allows you to look at, for example, a virus, as it interacts with cells.
Naturally, one of the first markets for the technology was research labs around the world.
This fast AFM technology (which Infinitesima calls Resonant Probe Microscopy) is not at the molecular level as there is a tradeoff between speed and resolution, but that speed is attractive to other applications, particularly the semiconductor industry. Being able to scan wafers and detect impurities almost down to the molecular level is even more vital as process technology heads down below the current leading edge of 42nm, and doing this quickly is also key to the wafer throughput of the fab.
Another advantage is that the video output can be easily linked to the existing image processing and detection software. The company relocated to the Oxford area to be close to instrumentation expertises, just as companies such as Oxford Instruments set up there, and is exhibiting at Semicon Europa next month to talk to the semiconductor equipment makers and fab operators.
Other universities have spun out AFM activities. In 1996 five researchers set up APE Research in Trieste to commercialise scanning tunnelling microscopy and AFM, and in 1999 it was recognised as a spinout from the Italian National Institute for Condensed Matter Physics (INFM).
Their systems are used by Raw Science in Stone, Staffordshire, a reverse engineering lab that is part of Datel Electronics. It takes games on optical disks and cartridges and reverse engineers the code to provide enhancements (otherwise know as 'cheats') for those games.
AFM has come a long way in the last few years, and while the promise of the molecular computer lives on, the technology is spinning out in other directions, as any healthy technology should.
Nick Flaherty has been covering technology since 1990 and isbased in Bristol, where he co-founded the SiliconSouthWest network.During that time he has worked for most of the electronicsmagazines and newspapers in the UK and several in Europe and theUS, covering all areas of the industry. He blogs at www.flaherty.co.uk.
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