Fullerene is a carbon tube that can take a spherical shape. When an electric current is applied, photons of light transmitted through the molecules appear, and the direction of the light can be controlled. Routing switches on railways work on a similar principle.

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Schematic comparison of technology with railway studies / Tokyo University of Photography

The molecule passes the red laser pulses in the intended direction, and while the electric current is converted into higher-speed traveling light radiation, the performance of the semiconductor becomes one million times higher than that of silicon transistors. A molecule can perform both single and multiple switching, which is achieved by the three-dimensional arrangement of transistors in modern microcircuits.

We believe we can achieve 1 million times faster switching speed than a conventional transistor. This can affect the performance of computers. But if we can change the fullerene molecule in different ways by tuning the laser, it is no less important that it looks like we have a large number of microscopic transistors in one molecule. This makes it possible to increase the complexity of the system without increasing its physical size, said Hirofumi Yanagisawa from the research team.

Fullerene was discovered more than seventy years ago, but until now there was no technology that would allow this material to be used in electronics. The reduction of technological processes made it possible to work with materials at the molecular level, so there was a chance that fullerene was still used, or at least would affect the further development of semiconductors.

The use of fullerene will make it possible to adjust the release of more productive processors, faster memory, more powerful chargers and increase the energy efficiency of other electronic devices. But before all this is possible, a series of challenges will have to be overcome. For example, reducing the laser component to the required size for such an integrated circuit.