£5m bid to power future gadgets

The circuits in existing iPods will not work with nano-transistors

A project which aims to help power the electronic gadgets of the future has been awarded £5.3m in funding.

Researchers from five UK universities - Edinburgh, Glasgow, York, Manchester and Southampton - are designing a new generation of nano-electronic circuits.

They want to create chips using tiny transistors which are 80,000 times smaller than a hair's breadth.

The circuits being used in existing computers and devices like iPods will not work with these nano-transistors.

Those behind the project said advances in technology had created a headache for the microelectronics industry.

We can't wait for silicon technology to create viable, production-line nanoscale transistors Professor Alan Murray University of Edinburgh

Transistors in electronic devices are becoming smaller, giving designers the challenge of creating circuits which are compatible with them.

Teams at the five universities are looking to create nanoscale circuits which will work with nano-transistors.

If current transistors are identical in shape and size they will behave in more or less the same way, but the new nanoscale ones will act in different, more random ways.

Professor Alan Murray, of the University of Edinburgh, said existing circuits would not be able to cope with these new transistors.

"They will require at least re-design - possibly even complete replacement - with circuits that have not yet been invented," he said.

"We can't wait for silicon technology to create viable, production-line nanoscale transistors.

Computer simulations

"It will then be too late to start looking for ways to use them. We must start now."

The project will use e-Science - which draws on shared data and massive computing power - to bring together computer simulations of transistors that do not yet exist and simulations of circuits that use them.

Professor Asen Asenov, of the University of Glasgow, said the project would involve experts from academia and industry.

"Only by working in close collaboration, and adequately connected and resourced by e-Science and Grid technology, can we understand and tackle the design complexity of nano-CMOS electronics, securing a competitive advantage for the UK electronics industry," he said.

Funding for the project has been provided by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.