世界最細(xì)導(dǎo)線，實(shí)現(xiàn)量子級(jí)飛躍

《悉尼先驅(qū)晨報(bào)》科技版（SMH | Technology）2012年1月6日訊

作者：尼奇·菲利普斯（Nicky Phillips）

譯者：烈農(nóng)

SYDNEY physicists have invented the world's narrowest silicon wire – 10,000 times thinner than a human hair – with the same capacity to conduct electricity as a traditional copper wire.

　　悉尼的物理學(xué)家近日研制出了目前世界上最細(xì)的硅導(dǎo)線，粗細(xì)僅相當(dāng)于人類頭發(fā)絲的萬分之一，但電導(dǎo)性能不亞于傳統(tǒng)銅導(dǎo)線。

The nanowire, four atoms wide and one atom high, is a significant advancement for the team, which is part of an international race to build the world's first quantum computer.

　　這種納米線是該研究小組重大科研突破，其尺寸僅有四個(gè)原子寬、一個(gè)原子高，為澳大利亞在建造世界首部量子計(jì)算機(jī)的國際競賽中贏得了先機(jī)。

These super-fast and super-powerful devices will be able to compute enormous amounts of data in seconds, calculations that would take today's computers years, even decades.

　　量子計(jì)算機(jī)是一種超快、超強(qiáng)的計(jì)算設(shè)備，簡而言之，當(dāng)今計(jì)算機(jī)花幾年甚至幾十年才能完成的大型運(yùn)算，量子計(jì)算機(jī)只需幾秒就能完成。（點(diǎn)擊這里閱讀維基百科中文介紹：量子計(jì)算機(jī)）

Atomic precision ... University of NSW PhD student Bent Weber with his university supervisor, Professor Michelle Simmons. Photo: Domino Postiglione

新南威爾士大學(xué)（UNSW）博士生本特·韋伯（Bent Weber）與他的導(dǎo)師米歇爾·西蒙斯教授（Prof. Michelle Simmons）

"It feels great, it's a big breakthrough and we are all very excited," said the University of NSW PhD student Bent Weber, who led the work.

　　韋伯牽頭此項(xiàng)研究，他表示：“感覺太棒了，這是一項(xiàng)重大科研突破，我們都很激動(dòng)?！?B class="label bg2" jQuery1326163760226="55">

In the past 40 years, there has been a continual push to develop and manufacture computer components – transistors and wiring – ever smaller to allow for more powerful computers.

　　在過去四十年中，業(yè)界不斷開發(fā)、研究、生產(chǎn)更小的計(jì)算機(jī)零部件，無論是晶體管還是纜線，只要零部件規(guī)格越小，計(jì)算機(jī)就越強(qiáng)大。

"This continuous downscaling means pretty soon you reach a few atoms but building components that small is something the industry can't achieve at the moment," Mr Weber said. In a traditional copper wire, electricity is generated when copper electrons flow through the length of the conductor. But as a wire or conductor becomes smaller, resistance to the electrical flow becomes greater.

　　“（零部件）尺寸不斷縮小，這意味著很快我們就能達(dá)到原子級(jí)別的規(guī)格，但打造如此細(xì)小的零部件卻是當(dāng)前業(yè)內(nèi)暫時(shí)無法實(shí)現(xiàn)的?！表f伯說。電子流過傳統(tǒng)銅導(dǎo)線，產(chǎn)生電流；但當(dāng)導(dǎo)線或?qū)w越來越小時(shí)，電阻就會(huì)增大。換句話說，導(dǎo)體的電阻與導(dǎo)體長度成正比，與橫截面積成反比。

To overcome this problem, Mr Weber and his team, which included researchers from the University of Melbourne and Purdue University in the US, used specially designed microscopes with atomic precision, to place phosphorus atoms into silicon crystals.

　　為了克服這個(gè)問題，韋伯和他的團(tuán)隊(duì)——包括來自墨爾本大學(xué)與美國普渡大學(xué)的研究人員一起，利用專門設(shè)計(jì)的原子精度顯微鏡，在硅晶體中放置了磷原子。

Attaching phosphorus atoms to silicon made the nanowire behave like copper, and placing the phosphorus atoms less than one nanometre apart meant electrons could flow easily, overcoming the problem of resistance.

　　用添加了磷原子的硅制作的納米線，其導(dǎo)電性與銅無異，而將磷原子以小于一納米的間隔排放則使得電子可以更容易地在導(dǎo)線中流動(dòng)，從而克服電阻因?qū)Ь€橫截面變小而增大的問題。

"We are showing with our techniques it is possible to downscale components down to a few atoms," said Mr Weber, whose research is published in the journal Science.

　　韋伯的研究成果已經(jīng)在最新一期《科學(xué)》（Science）雜志上發(fā)布，他說：“利用我們的技術(shù)，電子元件尺寸完全降低到幾個(gè)原子大小。”

Mr Weber's supervisor, physicist Michelle Simmons, said while quantum computers were still more than a decade away, the team's long-term goal was to develop a phosphorus-based quantum computer, where the smallest units of information – the equivalent of bits in classical computers – were replaced with phosphorus atoms.

　　韋伯的導(dǎo)師、物理學(xué)家米歇爾·西蒙斯教授（Prof. Michelle Simmons）則表示，雖然量子計(jì)算機(jī)實(shí)際制造成功還需要十年之遙或更久，但該小組的長期目標(biāo)就是開發(fā)出一個(gè)磷基量子計(jì)算機(jī)，其信息最小單位——等同于傳統(tǒng)計(jì)算機(jī)的“比特”（bit），或“位”——將被磷原子取代。

"If we are going to use atoms as bits, we've got to have wires at the same scale as the single atoms themselves," Professor Simmons, the director of the Australian Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology and the 2010 NSW scientist of the year.

　　西蒙斯教授說：“如果我們要使用原子作為比特的替代品，我們就必須打造同等規(guī)模的單原子規(guī)格線纜?！蔽髅伤菇淌谠鴺s獲澳大利亞“新南威爾士州2010年度科學(xué)家”稱號(hào)，現(xiàn)擔(dān)任澳大利亞量子計(jì)算和通信技術(shù)卓越研究中心（ACEQCCT）主任一職。

Scientists expect quantum computers will have a variety of applications, including fast database searches, economic modelling, weather forecasting, airline scheduling and code breaking.

　　科學(xué)家預(yù)計(jì)，未來量子計(jì)算機(jī)必然應(yīng)用廣泛，可用于快速檢索數(shù)據(jù)庫、經(jīng)濟(jì)建模、天氣預(yù)報(bào)、航空調(diào)度以及密碼破譯等領(lǐng)域。

　　西蒙斯教授說：“量子計(jì)算機(jī)的整個(gè)概念就是它能夠進(jìn)行并行計(jì)算，這使得運(yùn)算速度成指數(shù)倍增加?！?B class="label bg2" jQuery1326163760226="64">

　　她告訴記者：“其實(shí)我們真心想回答的一個(gè)問題是：我們到底可以把導(dǎo)線做得多細(xì)而不失去其導(dǎo)電性能呢？”

　　看來即使已經(jīng)只有頭發(fā)絲萬分之一大小，韋伯與西蒙斯的這個(gè)研究團(tuán)隊(duì)仍然還有很長的路要走。

　?。ㄗg注：最后三段文字編譯自新南威爾士大學(xué)官方新聞報(bào)道，點(diǎn)擊這里閱讀原文并觀看一段官方視頻。）

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