Carbon Chips Next Step Post-Silicon, Says Scientist.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)(Q & A)

Byline: DOUG TSURUOKA

Phaedon Avouris is racing with time. Avouris is a key person developing nanoscale -- molecule-sized -- devices at IBM Corp.'s T.J. Watson Research Center. He's hurrying because silicon, the basic material used in computer chips, will face limits in 10 years. Transistors and circuits will reach a point where they can't be made any smaller, scientists say. At that point, it's impossible to improve chip performance -- if the chip is made the standard way. That's why people watch Avouris and others who are researching silicon replacements. Avouris is a pioneer in carbon nanotubes, trying to create tiny circuits out of carbon molecules. One way to do …