Swedes debut the ‘wooden’ transistor

Apparently tired of those tiny transistors made from silicon, Swedish researchers from Linköping University and the KTH Royal Institute of Technology decided to make some based on wood. Their T-shaped device detailed in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences is about 3 cm across and has a switching frequency of well below one hertz.

In previous experiments, transistors made of wood have been able to regulate ion transport only. And when the ions run out, the transistor stops functioning. The one developed by the Linköping researchers, however, can function continuously and regulate electricity flow without deteriorating.