Scientists Build a 'Perfect' Single-Atom Transistor

Scientists from the University of New South Wales have created a single-atom transistor using a repeatable technique -- a world first. Using a scanning-tunneling microscope (STM), the scientists were able to precisely manipulate hydrogen atoms around a phosphorus atom on a silicon wafer inside an ultra-high vacuum chamber. The result is the first single-atom transistor made with perfect precision, which could one day become a building block for a quantum computer.