A research team led by The University of Tokyo has created the world’s smallest semiconductor nanotube, measuring just 1 nanometer in diameter which is about one hundred-thousandth the width of a human hair.
The breakthrough was published in the latest issue of Science and validates theoretical predictions about ultrafine materials that scientists made decades ago. This achievement opens up new possibilities for next-generation miniaturized electronic devices.
How They Made It
The researchers used boron nitride (BN) nanotubes as a template to synthesize single-walled molybdenum disulfide (MoS?) nanotubes. Growing nanotubes at this scale is incredibly difficult because structures become unstable at such tiny dimensions.
To solve this problem, the team carried out chemical reactions inside the confined interior of BN nanotubes, creating single-walled MoS? nanotubes with a well-defined atomic structure and a diameter of only 1 nanometer.
The nanotubes produced in this study are only a few hundred nanometers long, but their diameter is what makes this breakthrough so significant.
How ultrafine materials behave electronically
MoS? nanotubes, while still experimental, point to applications in semiconductor electronics, high-resolution sensing, and quantum-scale physics research.
At the 1-nanometer scale, materials begin to display unique electronic properties that don’t exist at larger scales.
This work confirms decades-old theoretical predictions about how these ultrafine materials behave electronically. Understanding these properties is crucial for developing the next generation of extremely small electronic devices.
First 1 nm chips expected to be available in?
This breakthrough comes at a time when semiconductor manufacturing is pushing toward the 1 nm process node, with the first 1 nm chips expected to be available in 2027.
The University of Tokyo’s achievement represents a step toward that future, showing that semiconducting structures can be built at scales previously thought nearly impossible.
The research demonstrates that atomically precise semiconducting nanotubes with nanometer diameters can be synthesized, opening a new route toward miniaturized electronic devices.
A significant milestone in nanotechnology
While these nanotubes are still in the experimental stage, they represent a significant milestone in nanotechnology.
The ability to create stable semiconducting structures at the 1-nanometer limit could help advance:
- Ultra-small transistors for future chips
- High-resolution sensors
- Quantum physics research tools
- Next-generation semiconductor electronics
The team’s work, titled “Confined growth of armchair MoS? nanotubes at the 1-nm limit,” shows that nanotube science is expanding well beyond carbon-based structure
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