Logic gates from undoped nanowires

Overcoming the Schottky barrier, researchers have constructed the first ever logic gates from un-doped silicon nanowires. Silicon nanowires are one of the great hopes for the future of electronics, but due to the inability to control dopants and the phenomenon known as a Schottky barrier, the nanowires have been unusable as logic gate in transistors. Today, researchers from France’s Universite Joseph Fourier overcame the Schottky barrier and created the world’s first undoped silicon nanowire transistors. By coating the nanowires with metal silicides, the researchers prevented the formation of unwanted Schottky barriers at the wires’ junctions with metal contacts. While it is unclear how scalable the technology is, it is an impressive achievement none the less and could help keep Moore's law on track.