The single-molecule transistor behaved just like a silicon, or traditional, transistor, said Mark Reed, a researcher at Yale University, New Haven.
Researchers from Yale and the Gwangju Institute in South Korea controlled energy passing through the molecule by manipulating voltage levels, Reed said in a recent issue of the journal Nature.
Single-molecule transistors someday could be used in computer circuits too small to handle traditional transistors, Reed said, noting that application, if possible at all, is still decades away.
"We're not about to create the next generation of integrated circuits," Reed said. "But after many years of work gearing up to this, we have fulfilled a decade-long quest and shown that molecules can act as transistors."
Copyright 2009 by United Press International.
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