Sweden successfully developed the world's first wooden transistor

Born nearly 100 years ago, the transistor is considered by some scientists to be one of the most important inventions for mankind, on par with the telephone, light bulb or bicycle.

Researchers from Linköping University and the Royal Swedish Institute of Technology have announced that they have successfully developed the world's first wooden transistor.

The world's first wooden transistor. (Source: PNSA).

Invented nearly 100 years ago, the transistor is considered by some scientists to be one of the most important inventions for mankind, on par with the telephone, the light bulb or the bicycle. As a type of active semiconductor component, often used as an amplifier or an electronic switch, the transistor is today a key component in modern electronic devices and is manufactured at the nanoscale.

'We came up with a principle that has never been seen before, ' said Professor Isak Engquist, of the Laboratory of Organic Electronics at Linköping University, in the scientific journal PNAS. 'Yes, the wooden transistor is slower and heavier, but it works and has great potential.'

In previous experiments, wooden transistors could only regulate the flow of ions, and when the ions were exhausted, the transistors stopped working. However, the transistor created by the Swedish inventors this time can operate continuously and regulate the current without wearing out.

The researchers used balsa wood (scientific name Ochroma pyramidale, which grows in South America and is considered the lightest wood in the world) to create this new transistor , because the technology involved requires a wood that is grain-free and has a uniform structure at all angles.

The team removed the lignin from this wood product, leaving only long, even cellulose fibers, with the tubes capped with a conductive plastic or polymer called PEDOT:PSS , which gives the wood its ability to conduct electricity.

This prototype was shown to be able to regulate current and operate continuously within a selected voltage range. The wooden transistor could also turn the power supply on and off, albeit with a significant delay: it reached the off state after 1 second and the on state after 5 seconds.

The big advantage of this transistor is that it can handle higher currents than conventional organic transistors, and so has the potential to be useful in many specific applications in the future, for example for regulating operations at power plants.