The USC scientist, Bart Kosko, Ph.D., a professor in the school's Electrical Engineering Department, led a study that has demonstrated for the first time that minuscule antennas, in the form of carbon nanotube transistors, can dramatically enhance the processing of electrical signals, a development that could pave the way for improved performance of consumer electronic devices.

The finding adds to a growing number of promising electronic components that are nanotube-based, including logic gates for computers and diodes for light displays. The study appears in the December issue of Nano Letters, a monthly peer-reviewed publication of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society.

"No one knows exactly how these little tubes work or even if they will work out in manufacturing, but they are surprisingly good at detecting electrical signals," says Kosko. "Once we figure out all the parameters that are needed to fine tune them, both physically and chemically, we hope to turn these tubes into powerful little antennas."

If all goes well, the tubes could start appearing in consumer products within five to ten years, he predicts.

The finding hinges on a well-known but counterintuitive theory called "stochastic resonance" that claims noise, or unwanted signals, can actually improve the detection of faint electrical signals. Kosko set out to show that the theory was applicable at the nano scale.

Under controlled laboratory conditions, Kosko's graduate student, Ian Lee, generated a sequence of faint electrical signals ranging from weak to strong. In combination with noise, the faint signals were then
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Contact: Michael Bernstein
m_bernstein@acs.org
202-872-6042
American Chemical Society
30-Dec-2003