Carbon nanotube breakthrough promises faster, lower power processors
Carbon nanotube transistors finally out perform their traditional silicon counterparts.
Key takeaways
- The computing industry has long seen carbon nanotube transistors as something of a Holy Grail - promising not just faster performance but also lower power consumption than their silicon based equivalents.
- Introducing carbon nanotubes and next generation electronics Apparently the trick was to find a way to find almost entirely pure carbon nanotubes, eliminating more of the imperfections that would limit their semiconducting traits.
- The end product manages a current 1.9 times higher than in silicon.
Cite or link to this article
Griffin, M. (2016) 'Carbon nanotube breakthrough promises faster, lower power processors', 311 Institute, 6 September. Available at: https://www.311institute.com/carbon-nanotube-breakthrough-promises-faster-lower-power-processors/ (Accessed: 1 October 2026).
The computing industry has long seen carbon nanotube transistors as something of a Holy Grail - promising not just faster performance but also lower power consumption than their silicon based equivalents. And it has long been thought that if researchers could harness carbon nanotube technology then they could slow, or even reverse the demise of Moore's Law and overcome some of the performance per watt problems highlighted by Dennard's Scaling Law.
However, up until recently their real-world speed has always lagged behind conventional technology and now University of Wisconsin Madison researchers have created what they say are the first carbon nanotube transistors that outpace modern silicon.
Introducing carbon nanotubes and next generation electronics
Apparently the trick was to find a way to find almost entirely pure carbon nanotubes, eliminating more of the imperfections that would limit their semiconducting traits. Researchers had to assemble the nanotubes on a wafer using an exact order and spacing through polymers, and cook the resulting arrays in a vacuum over to remove an insulating layer between the nanotubes and the electrodes needed for the transistor. The end product manages a current 1.9 times higher than in silicon.
There's plenty of refinement left before you see carbon nanotubes in practical chips and going from the lab to full commercialisation of an emerging technology takes time but for now another barrier has fallen. The team still has to adapt its current product to the geometry of a conventional silicon transistor, and it has to scale the technology in a way that would work for mass production. If the university manages to pull this off, though, the breakthrough could have a very tangible impact on just about every device you use. You could expect more raw number crunching power, of course, but you'd also get longer battery life and faster wireless data.
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Why does this matter?
Carbon nanotube transistors finally out perform their traditional silicon counterparts.
About the author
Matthew Griffin Founder, 311 Institute
Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath."
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Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath." 15-time best selling author of the "Codex of the Future" series, Matthew is the Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm working with royal households, world leaders, G7, G20, and G77 governments, NGOs, and multi-national mid and mega cap firms to help them explore, shape, and lead the next 50 years of business and society.
An award-winning YouTube creator with over a million followers, with an unrivalled global reach and impact, Matthew is a highly sought-after international keynote speaker, lecturer, and mentor who collaborates with global leaders through the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to shape pivotal initiatives such as the UN’s AI for Humanity program, the United Nations Conference of the Parties (UN COP), and the World Economic Forum in Davos.
As the former Global Head of Cloud, National Security, and Enterprise Sales for companies including Atos, Dell-EMC, and IBM, Matthew has a proven track record of building multi-billion dollar business units and turning failing divisions into market leaders. His ability to identify, analyse, and communicate the implications of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends is unparalleled, and his insights are trusted by many of the world’s most respected organisations, including ABB, Accenture, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi, Coca-Cola, Dentons, Deloitte, Dow Jones, EY, Google, KPMG, Lego, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, Siemens AG and Siemens Energy, T-Mobile, UBS, VISA, Walmart, Workday, Worldpay and many others.
Regularly featured in the global media including the AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, Forbes, Khaleej Times, Telegraph, TIME, ViacomCBS, WIRED, and the WSJ, Matthews mission is to help organisations create a fair and sustainable future whose benefits are shared by everyone irrespective of their ability, background, or circumstances.
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Sources and further reading
- Carbon nanotube en.wikipedia.org
- Dennard's Scaling Law en.wikipedia.org
- For first time carbon nanotube transistors outperform silicon news.wisc.edu
Source: first published by the 311 Institute on 6 September 2016. Cite as: Griffin, M. (2016). Carbon nanotube breakthrough promises faster, lower power processors. 311 Institute. https://www.311institute.com/carbon-nanotube-breakthrough-promises-faster-lower-power-processors/
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