Carbon replaces silicon in switches

FRANKFURT: German chipmaker Infineon said that it had built the first electrical power switches using carbon nanotechnology instead of silicon, paving the way for much smaller, cheaper switches.

Carbon nanotubes, microscopic pipes made out of carbon atoms and with a diameter about 100,000 times smaller than a human hair, have been used to make low-voltage transistors for computer chips to store and process information.

But Infineon said that until now it had been thought they were not suitable for the switches used in electric motors, lamps or power supply units -- which carry currents and voltages about 1,000 times higher.

Infineon said for carbon nanotubes to function as power transistors groups of hundreds or thousands had to be packed together in parallel. Its prototype could switch LEDs (light-emitting diodes) or small electric motors of 2.5 volts.

But the company said it was still in the basic stages of research and it was unclear how long it would be before such switches could be produced commercially in large numbers.

Infineon will present its research to the German Physics Society on March 12 in the town of Regensburg near Munich.

CIOL Bureau