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Faster and smaller transistors are being developed and tested, and here's one of the more interesting new designs. It is effectively a vacuum tube/transistor hybrid. By utilizing modern manufacturing processes it is possible to make extremely small vacuum tubes that do not have any of the problems of older tubes, and also happen to be able to operate in the terahertz range.
Although we are still at an early stage with our research, we believe the recent improvements we've made to the vacuum-channel transistor could one day have a huge influence on the electronics industry, particularly for applications where speed is paramount. Our very first effort to fashion a prototype produced a device that could operate at 460 gigahertz -- roughly 10 times as fast as the best silicon transistor can manage. This makes the vacuum-channel transistor very promising for operating in what is sometimes known as the terahertz gap, the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum above microwaves and below infrared.
(Score: 5, Informative) by janrinok on Tuesday June 24 2014, @09:28AM
Having used thermionic valves in some of my early radio work, it seemed to me that they had gone forever when the transistor came along. The article is well written and explains clearly how each of the problems associated with the new work have been overcome, using the principles of valves but applying them to semiconductors. In fact there is no longer a need for a vacuum at all, no heating required and it is really little more than a redesigned semiconductor gate. Although this is still in the early stages of development, as admitted by TFA, I cannot see any potential insurmountable problems with the work ahead. It has significant potential and I would expect to see working products being available within a decade.
I am too far out-of-date to suggest any uses other than the obvious, but I'm sure someone will come up with some very bright ideas to fully exploit whatever this device makes possible.
(Score: 2) by opinionated_science on Tuesday June 24 2014, @01:42PM
analogue computing?
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday June 25 2014, @12:57AM
Base 42
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 24 2014, @03:55PM
I wondered if it would be possible to get a transistor to switch fast enough to create xray (or faster) frequencies from a free electron laser. Maybe this will be able to get that fast someday?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by kaszz on Wednesday June 25 2014, @01:29AM
Terahertz is at least within grabs now. There are probably a lot of sneaky spying applications to be done ;)
On a more serious note I think that spectrum might have some very interesting properties in the grey zone between "radio" and infrared light.