California scientists used nanotechnology to create the world's fastest method for transmitting data in cell phones and computers. A team from the University of California-Irvine used carbon nanotubes instead of copper or aluminum wires to achieve processing speeds of gigahertz -- one billion times the hertz, the basic unit of measuring such signals, the school said Friday. The breakthrough could lead to faster and more efficient computers, and improved wireless network and cellular phone systems, adding to the growing enthusiasm about nanotechnology's revolutionary potential. "Our prior research showed that nanotube transistors can operate at extremely high frequencies, but the connections between the transistors were made out of somewhat slower copper, thus forming a bottleneck for the electrical signals," said one of the researchers. A nanotube is commonly made from carbon and consists of a graphite sheet seamlessly wrapped into a cylinder only a few nanometers wide. A nanometer is one billionth of a meter, about the size of 10 atoms strung together. © Copyright 2005 by United Press International

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