IBM creates single-molecule computer circuit

Kelly McNeill writes “Following news of having built the world’s most powerful supercomputer, IBM Corp. announced Sunday a breakthrough in shrinking computer circuitry to a microscopic level. The achievement is one more step on the path toward breaking the limitations imposed by silicon chips. IBM scientists say they have constructed a miniature computer circuit using one carbon molecule. The structure uses a nanotube, a building block of future computers 100,000 times smaller than a human hair yet stronger than steel and seen as the successor to today’s silicon chip.”