Researchers Solve a Roadblock in an Unusual Approach to Chip-Making: A Return to Vacuum Tubes
Researchers from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Shaoxing University have called for a return to vacuum tubes — solving one of the fundamental problems that prevents them being shrunk down to a size where they can be used in integrated circuits like microprocessors and microcontrollers.
"We've worked on this problem for years, because everyone knows that if you could make vacuum tubes work again at the chip scale, the speed advantage would be enormous," the team, under corresponding author Yuelin Wang, say of the research. "The reason previous attempts failed was always the same — the gate leaked. By controlling the electron supply at the cathode instead of trying to catch electrons in mid‑air, we finally got rid of that leakage. Seeing the same device work as an amplifier, a differential pair, and even a NAND gate on the test bench was the moment we realized this approach actually has...
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