Using the world's thinnest material, Graphene, researchers at the University of Manchester have created the world's smallest transistor. According to Professor Andre Geim and Dr. Kostya Novoselov from The School of Physics and Astronomy at The University of Manchester, the new transistors are only one atom thick and less than 50 atoms wide. The development opens the gate to superfast computer chips at sizes not possible before with standard Silicon transistors. Graphene-based circuits, however, are not likely to be completely ready until 2025.

Graphene, a form of carbon that is only one atom thick, may provide a solid alternative for even further miniaturization of electronics as silicon-based technology reaches its limit. Graphene transistors were originally created two years ago, but at that time they were very "leaky" meaning current could not be turned off to zero. The "leaky" quality of the transistors effectively limited their uses, and rendered them useless for employment in computer chips and electronic circuits. But over the course of the past two years the research team at the University of Manchester was able to overcome this problem, and have created fully-functional and stable Graphene transistors. Graphene transistors remain stable and conductive even when they are only a few nanometers wide. This is in contrast to all other known materials, including the dominant silicon, which "oxidize, decompose and become unstable at sizes ten times larger." This is the barrier that current silicon-based technology is approaching and is likely to also be its downfall.

Hah. Skynet will be here soon. All we need to work on is amorphous metal construction for our robot masters :-D