HP to unveil nanotech breakthrough

Hewlett-Packard researchers will unveil a major breakthrough in the field of nanotechnology later today, a milestone in the company's goal to build future generations of smaller, faster and cheaper chips based on 'molecular grids'.

Molecular grids are the central concept in HP's nanotechnology plans. In the company's vision, layers of molecular strands, laid down in a crisscross fashion, will form a mesh of tiny, intelligent circuits. This molecular mesh could be sandwiched between layers of ordinary chip wires to act as a communications network or, eventually, used as the foundation for a complete microprocessor.

Corporate research is increasingly focusing on nanotechnology - the science of building computer chips or other devices out of elements measuring 100 nanometres or less. The technology will let manufacturers produce chips and sensors that are far smaller, faster, more energy-efficient and cheaper to make than their present-day counterparts. It will also open up completely new areas of research, as matter behaves differently at this level, researchers have said.

HP, often in conjunction with the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), has already accomplished much of the foundational research required to develop chips based on molecular grids. In 1999 and 2000, HP and UCLA announced they had created new molecules that could be switched on and off, laying the groundwork for making molecular circuits. HP has also fabricated strands of these molecules.

In 2001, the two institutions were awarded a patent that addressed one of the key hurdles in using grids: how to connect the molecular wires, which can measure six atoms wide, to the tiny wires found in computer chips, which can be 70 times thicker. Then, in January 2002, HP and UCLA were awarded a patent for forming and managing traffic on these sorts of grids.

To date, HP has demonstrated how a molecular layer can be used to connect standard computer circuits, but it has not shown off more elaborate grids complete with the intersections and signal lights that would be required in practical use.

HP is not alone in its quest. This week, Intel will partly unveil its plans for nanotechnology at its developer's conference in San Jose.

Michael Kanellos