英語沙龍十年合集珍藏版第三輯The first nano1) circuit2)
The first nano1) circuit2)
IBM makes the tiniest computer part ever.
Even the most optimistic semiconductor3) researchers say that silicon－based computer chips may only have １５years or so left in them．After that，it will be impossible to fit any more circuits onto these increasingly minute wafers to power inexorably4) smaller and smarter computers．Consequently，researchers are determined to figure out how to make complex microprocessors out of other materials．IBM made a significant breakthrough in August when physicists at its Thomas J．Watson Research Center，built the world’s first logic circuit out of a single long carbon molecule called a nanotube．Though the first laptop with nanotubes inside is still a long way off，the IBM invention“was a critical step，”says Phaedon Avouris，a member of the group that created the circuit．
As pliant as silicon5) has been over the last half－century，carbon nanotubes have some significant advantages．They’re as small as a semiconductor can get，so engineers will be able to pack trillions6) of them onto a single chip．And since they’re thin and long，like a garden hose，electrons are funneled straight through the circuit ――dramatically cutting down resistance．That results in less heat and less power dissipation than occurs with silicon．
But enormous technical problems remain．For one thing，even today’s average desktop computer would require at least a few million of these circuits，and there are no known methods for producing large numbers of them quickly and efficiently．Equally important is the challenge of connecting a series of individual and disparate logic circuits into microprocessors7)．And while computers run on three different types of logic circuits ――called And，Not，and Or gates ――IBM’s Not gate is the only type that has yet been created from carbon nanotubes．
The IBM advance is a good start；now engineers have a little more than another decade to finish the job．
第一個(gè)納米電路
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IBM造出有史以來最小的計(jì)算機(jī)零件。
即便最樂觀的半導(dǎo)體研究者都說，以硅為原料的計(jì)算機(jī)芯片或許最多還能存在１５年左右。此后，要在這些晶片上再加進(jìn)任何電路都是不可能的了：因?yàn)榫絹碓叫?，晶片?qū)動(dòng)的計(jì)算機(jī)也越來越小，越來越智能化。因此，科學(xué)家決心研究出如何用其他材料制造復(fù)雜的微處理器。８月份，IBM取得重大突破。該公司托馬斯·沃森研究中心的物理學(xué)家造出全世界第一個(gè)以納米管（一個(gè)長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)的碳分子）為原料的邏輯電路。創(chuàng)造出這個(gè)電路的小組成員費(fèi)宗·瓦武里斯說，盡管要造出有納米管的電腦還有很長(zhǎng)一段路要走，IBM的這項(xiàng)發(fā)明仍然“是關(guān)鍵的一步”。
盡管硅在過去半個(gè)世紀(jì)里用途廣泛，但碳納米管擁有某些明顯優(yōu)勢(shì)。半導(dǎo)體能有多小它們就能多??；因此，工程師能夠把數(shù)以兆計(jì)的碳納米管安在一塊芯片上。此外，由于它們像水管一樣又細(xì)又長(zhǎng)，電子可以直接穿過電路：這大大減少了阻力，從而比用硅做原料時(shí)耗能少，產(chǎn)生的熱也少。
但是，仍然存在大量技術(shù)問題。例如，即使今天普通的桌上電腦也需要至少幾百萬個(gè)這種電路，目前人們還不知道怎樣快速有效地大批量生產(chǎn)它們。同樣重要的是，如何把一系列單個(gè)分離的邏輯電路連接成微處理器。計(jì)算機(jī)在三種不同的邏輯電路上運(yùn)行，這三種電路稱作And，Not和Or 。IBM的Not是目前惟一利用碳納米管制造出來的邏輯電路。
IBM的進(jìn)展開了一個(gè)好頭。如今，工程師們還有十幾年的時(shí)間來完成這項(xiàng)工作。
NOTE 注釋：
nano [5nAnEJ]n. 納米
circuit [5sE:kit] n. 電路
semiconductor [5semikEn5dQktE] n. [物] 半導(dǎo)體
inexorably [in5eksErEbli] adv. 無情地, 冷酷地
silicon [5silikEn] n. [化]硅, 硅元素
carbon [5kB:bEn] n. [化]碳(元素符號(hào)C)
trillion [5triljEn] num. 萬億
microprocessor [maIkrEJ5prEJsesE(r)] n. [計(jì)]微處理器
