Transistor comprises a single atom within a silicon crystal

The electronic device, described in a paper published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, uses as its active component an individual phosphorus atom patterned between atomic-scale electrodes and electrostatic control gates.

According to a statement, this unprecedented atomic accuracy may yield the elementary building block for a future quantum computer with unparallelled computational efficiency.

Until now, single-atom transistors have been realised only by chance, where researchers either have had to search through many devices or tune multi-atom devices to isolate one that works.

‘But this device is perfect’, said Prof Michelle Simmons, group leader and director of the ARC Centre for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology at UNSW. ‘This is the first time anyone has shown control of a single atom in a substrate with this level of precise accuracy.’

The microscopic device even has tiny visible markers etched onto its surface so researchers can connect metal contacts and apply a voltage, said research fellow and lead author Dr Martin Fuechsle from UNSW.