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Published online 15 October 2008 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2008.1171
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Computer circuit builds itself
Organic molecules organize themselves to form a bridge between electrodes.
A team of European physicists has developed an integrated circuit that can build itself. The work, appearing in this week's Nature1, is an important step towards its ultimate goal — a self-assembling computer.
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The comment in the article about the need for higher performance is surprising, if the technology is capable of scaling down to very small sizes, then it would be feasible to use massively parallel architectures to get the best out of of the technology. In fact the technique may be best suited to large arrays of small, simple, and comparatively slow devices that are designed for specific narrow applications. Not every device we create needs to be a multi-bigahertz monolithic general purpose computing device. Potential for small, lowcost, ultra low power remote sensors that are powered with energy savaging methods is also a potential.