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Phoenix666 [soylentnews.org] writes:

The tiny transistor is the heart of the electronics revolution, and Penn State materials scientist have just discovered a way [innovations-report.com] to give the workhorse transistor a big boost, using a new technique to incorporate vanadium oxide, one of a family of materials called functional oxides, into the device.

“It’s tough to replace the current transistor technology, because semiconductors do such a fantastic job,” said Roman Engel-Herbert, assistant professor of materials science and engineering. “But there are some materials, like vanadium oxide, that you can add to existing devices to make them perform even better.”

The researchers knew that vanadium dioxide, which is just a specific combination of the elements vanadium and oxygen, had an unusual property called the metal-to-insulator transition. In the metal state, electrons move freely, while in the insulator state, electrons cannot flow. This on/off transition, inherent to vanadium dioxide, is also the basis of computer logic and memory.

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