Logic gates based on ion transistors

A doctoral student in Organic Electronics from Linkoping University in Sweden developed an integrated chemical chip following the work of his research team who had previously developed ion transistors for transport of ions and biomolecules. Last year, Klas Tybrandt succeeded in the combination of both transistor types into complementary circuits, in a similar way to traditional silicon-based electronics (CMOS).

The difference is that in chemical circuits, the charge carrier consists of chemical substances with different functions, so we could have the opportunity to control and regulate the signal paths of cells in the human body. An example would be to send signals to muscle synapses where the signalling system may not work. Magnus Berggren, leader of the Organic Electronics group says that their chip works with common signalling substances like acetylchloride.

As shown in the following image, this chemical chip can control the delivery of signalling substances in order to control the muscles, which activate when they come into contact with this substance.

The transistors for transport of ions and biomolecules were used by the researchers to control the delivery of acetylchloride to individual cells. Last year, Tybrandt developed chemical chips that also contain logic gates that allow the construction of all logical functions.

Reference:
Tybrandt, K; Forchheimer, R and Berggren, M. (2012) Logic gates based on ion transistors. Nature Communications, 3, 871. DOI: 10.1038/ncomms1869