From Atoms to Transistors

Since the advent of atomic manipulation with the scanning tunneling microscope (STM), a significant challenge for atomic scale fabrication has been to build structures large enough to exhibit emergent phenomena. STM-based hydrogen lithography on silicon can be used to create donor-based electronic devices atom-by-atom, a process we refer to as atomic precision advanced manufacturing (APAM). Although this capability promises to create a tactile link between atomic structure and system-level behavior, application of this technique has been held back by two factors. I will detail our efforts to both make more atomically perfect devices, and more complex devices. Moving forward, these advances open the door to using the technology to create everything from analog quantum simulators to new transistor technologies in silicon.