Most people associate vacuum tubes with a time when a single computer took up several rooms and “debugging” meant removing the insects stuck in the valves, but this technology may be in for a resurgence with news that researchers at NASA and the National Nanofab Center in South Korea are working on a miniaturized “vacuum channel transistor” – a best-of-both-worlds device that could find application in space and high-radiation environments.
Vacuum tubes, or thermionic valves, have almost disappeared from our day-to-day life, save for some purist sound rigs and high-power radio base stations. Their replacement – solid-state transistors – are easier to manufacture, cheaper, lighter, last longer, and consume much less power. Valves, on the other hand, are more robust in high-temperature and high-radiation environments and yield a higher frequency/power output than standard transistors.
NASA/Nanofab researchers are developing a device the combines the best aspects from both vacuum tubes and solid-state transistors. Their prototype “vacuum channel transistor” is only 150 nanometers in size, can be manufactured cheaply using standard silicon semiconductor processing, can operate at high speeds even in hostile environments, and could consume just as much power as a standard transistor.
via Gizmag
May 29, 2012
