Chemists Create Faster and More Efficient Way to Process Information
May 11, 2018 | University of WaterlooEstimated reading time: 1 minute
University of Waterloo chemists have found a much faster and more efficient way to store and process information by expanding the limitations of how the flow of electricity can be used and managed.
In a recently released study, the chemists discovered that light can induce magnetization in certain semiconductors - the standard class of materials at the heart of all computing devices today.
"These results could allow for a fundamentally new way to process, transfer, and store information by electronic devices, that is much faster and more efficient than conventional electronics."
For decades, computer chips have been shrinking thanks to a steady stream of technological improvements in processing density. Experts have, however, been warning that we'll soon reach the end of the trend known as Moore's Law, in which the number of transistors per square inch on integrated circuits double every year.
"Simply put, there's a physical limit to the performance of conventional semiconductors as well as how dense you can build a chip," said Pavle Radovanovic, a professor of chemistry and a member of the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology. "In order to continue improving chip performance, you would either need to change the material transistors are made of - from silicon, say to carbon nanotubes or graphene - or change how our current materials store and process information."
Radovanovic's finding is made possible by magnetism and a field called spintronics, which proposes to store binary information within an electron's spin direction, in addition to its charge and plasmonics, which studies collective oscillations of elements in a material.
"We've basically magnetized individual semiconducting nanocrystals (tiny particles nearly 10,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair) with light at room temperature," said Radovanovic. "It's the first time someone's been able to use collective motion of electrons, known as plasmon, to induce a stable magnetization within such a non-magnetic semiconductor material."
In manipulating plasmon in doped indium oxide nanocrystals Radovanovic's findings proves that the magnetic and semiconducting properties can indeed be coupled, all without needing ultra-low temperatures (cryogens) to operate a device.
He anticipates the findings could initially lead to highly sensitive magneto-optical sensors for thermal imaging and chemical sensing. In the future, he hopes to extend this approach to quantum sensing, data storage, and quantum information processing.
Suggested Items
Designer’s Notebook: What Designers Need to Know About Manufacturing, Part 2
04/24/2024 | Vern Solberg -- Column: Designer's NotebookThe printed circuit board (PCB) is the primary base element for providing the interconnect platform for mounting and electrically joining electronic components. When assessing PCB design complexity, first consider the component area and board area ratio. If the surface area for the component interface is restricted, it may justify adopting multilayer or multilayer sequential buildup (SBU) PCB fabrication to enable a more efficient sub-surface circuit interconnect.
Real Time with... IPC APEX EXPO 2024: Advancements in Laser Depaneling with LPKF
04/24/2024 | Real Time with...IPC APEX EXPOJake Benz, LPKF sales manager for North America, discusses the company's advancements in laser depaneling. LPKF has introduced a green wavelength laser for processing rigid FR-4 circuit boards, bringing significant gains in processing speeds to market. The company transitioned from IR CO2 to UV wavelength due to heat and burning issues.
KYZEN to Focus on AQUANOX A4618 at SMTA Wisconsin Expo & Tech Forum
04/22/2024 | KYZEN'KYZEN, the global leader in innovative environmentally friendly cleaning chemistries, will exhibit at the SMTA Wisconsin Expo & Tech Forum, scheduled to take place Tuesday, May 7, 2024 at the Four Poins by Sheraton, Milwaukee Airport in Milwaukee, WI.
AIM Solder’s Dillon Zhu to Present on Ultraminiature Soldering at SMTA China East
04/22/2024 | AIMAIM Solder, a leading global manufacturer of solder assembly materials for the electronics industry, is pleased to announce that Dillon Zhu will present on the topic: Ultraminiature Soldering: Techniques, Technologies, and Standards at SMTA China East. This event is being held at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition & Convention Center from April 24-25.
Intel Gaudi, Xeon and AI PC Accelerate Meta Llama 3 GenAI Workloads
04/22/2024 | Intel CorporationMeta launched Meta Llama 3, its next-generation large language model (LLM). Effective on launch day, Intel has validated its AI product portfolio for the first Llama 3 8B and 70B models across Intel® Gaudi® accelerators, Intel® Xeon® processors, Intel® Core™ Ultra processors and Intel® Arc™ graphics.