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Master Of The Micro World - Interview
Discover, Sept, 2000
If it's tiny and electronic, Mark Reed is probably tinkering with it. In 1987 he invented quantum dots, microscopic boxes that contain just a handful of free electrons, which could form the basis of a radically miniaturized computer memory. Now Reed, an electrical engineer at Yale University, is a leader in the search for a successor to the silicon chip. He is developing novel techniques for assembling switches, memory, and other computer components, molecule by molecule. The work is progressing so quickly that Reed co-founded Molecular Electronics Corp. to commercialize the technology. He recently shared his vision of molecular computing with Discover Associate Editor Fenella Saunders.
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How small can computers get?
A computer today is a big box that sits on your desk or lap, but the actual part that's doing the calculations is already just a small bunch of chips. The rest of it is displays and keyboards. So I don't think it's a question of how small, it's a question of how powerful. As we're able to increase the capability of computers, we can start to put intelligence in a lot of things that interact with us through the day. I see a revolution over the next few decades. This amazing amount of computer power will be transparent to us but will extend through many things in our lives.
How do you use molecular electronics to build a computer?
The thing you need in a computer system is something to control the flow of current. By doing that you create logic and eventually memory. Think about it as configurations of light switches. We've shown that molecules can act as switches. We have molecules where, under certain conditions, the current flows through and, under other conditions, the current doesn't flow through. Now we just have to figure out how to put it all together.
How can you manufacture such tiny switches?
Fabricating devices gets increasingly hard the smaller you make them. If you can find a way to use some natural processes to control the fabrication, that's a tremendous advantage. Our strategy has been to utilize self-assembly, which is just a chemical reaction that gets the molecules to stick where you want them. We don't see a limit to how small we can make devices until we reach the atomic scale.
Will we ever be able to build quantum computers, devices that operate at the subatomic scale?
I don't think there are very good ideas out there yet on how to make a quantum computer. But if we do find the right idea, oh, it's going to be phenomenal.
Is it really possible to predict where the technology is headed?
In 1950, it would have been a very obvious extension to say that in the year 2000 you'd have a nuclear-powered toaster. In the 1970s, few people predicted having an Internet. People think very linearly, but it is the right-angle turns that really are the most interesting. Some of the uses we are going to find for these electronics systems--I think even our wildest imaginings might be too conservative.
What excites you most?
Controlling nature, one atom at a time, and being able to get it to dance the way you want it to.
COPYRIGHT 2000 Discover
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group
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