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Working Transistor Made with Atomic Precision

Physicists at Australia's University of New South Wales created this working transistor consisting of a single atom placed precisely in a silicon crystal. The tiny electronic device uses as its active component an individual phosphorus atom patterned between atomic-scale electrodes and electrostatic control gates. This level of atomic accuracy could yield the elementary building block for a future quantum computer with unparalleled computational efficiency. The microscopic device has tiny visible markers etched onto its surface so researchers can connect metal contacts and apply a voltage.