via ASDN.net
By creating a new type of molecular circuit switch, the team may have just opened the door to ultra-high-density computing within our lifetime.
An international team with ties to UCF has cracked a challenge that could herald a new era of ultra-high-density computing.
For years engineers and scientists around the world have been trying to make smaller and faster electronics. But the power needed for today’s design tends to overheat and fry the circuits. Circuits are generally built by connecting a diode switch in series with a memory element, called one diode–one resistor. But this approach requires large voltage drops across the device, which translates into high power, and hampers shrinking circuitry beyond a certain point as two separate circuit elements are required. Many teams are working on combining the diode and resistor into a single device.
These one-on-one molecular switches are great options, but they too have been limited to carrying out only one function and even then, they were often fraught with problems including unstable electrical voltage variances and limited lifespans.
The international team, led by Christian Nijhuis from the National University of Singapore and with co-authors Damien Thompson at the University of Limerick and Enrique del Barco the University of Central Florida, made the breakthrough detailed June 1 in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Materials.
The team created a new type of molecular switch that works as both a diode and a memory element. The device is 2 nanometers thick, the length of a single molecule (10,000 times smaller than the width of hair), and only requires a low drive voltage of less than 1 Volt.
“The community is quickly advancing in identifying novel electronic device applications at the molecular scale,” says Del Barco, a professor who specializes in quantum physics. “This work may help speed-up development of new technologies involving artificial synapses and neural networks.”
Nijhuis, who specializes in chemistry, led the team. Damien Thompson from the University of Limerick provided computational theory expertise and del Barco and his team of students and lab scientists provided the theoretical analysis.
How it works
The molecular switch operates in a two-step mechanism where the injected charge is stabilized by migration of charged ions between the molecules and the device surface. That’s made possible by bonding the molecules in pairs. Using a combination of electrical measurements and atomic-scale measurements guided by quantum mechanics, the team found a sweet spot between stability and switch ability that yielded the dual diode+memory resistive RAM memory at a microscopic scale, according to the paper.
“There are still some challenges and more work in this area is needed, but this is a significant breakthrough,” Nijhuis says.
The Latest Updates from Bing News & Google News
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Ultra-high-density computing
- Nvidia Grace CPU paves the way to energy-efficient computing
In tests of real workloads, the Nvidia Grace CPU Superchip scored 2x performance gains over x86 processors at the same power envelope across major data centre CPU applications. This means data centers ...
- Arnouse Digital Announces the release of BioDigitalPC 12X
ARNOUSE DIGITAL DEVICES Corp. ("ADDC"), the inventor and leader in the advancements of micro-form-factor compute platforms is proud to unveil the BioDigitalPC 12X (PC12X), its newest and most advanced ...
- iPhone 15 Ultra — everything we know so far
The iPhone 15 Ultra has been tipped to be a very high-end take on the next-gen iPhone Pro Max, with rumors swirling away even though the iPhone 14 Pro Max isn't even six months old. Early leaks ...
- NeoGene unlocks direct-to-silicon liquid cooling technology by novel IC package approach
NeoGene Tech, a Guangzhou-based Taiwanese thermal management solution provider, has in Q3 2022 supported Xiaomi to successfully launch its flagship 5G smartphone, Xiaomi 12S Ultra, with excellent ...
- What is screen door effect in VR?
The screen door effect is an annoying problem for VR gamers affecting Meta Quest, HTC Vive, Valve Index, and Sony PSVR2 headsets. Why's it so hard to eliminate?
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Ultra-high-density computing
[google_news title=”” keyword=”ultra-high-density computing” num_posts=”5″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Molecular circuit
- New DART VADAR system allows development of precision RNA-based therapies
The rapid development of mRNA-based vaccines saved millions of lives worldwide. Since the beginning of the pandemic, up to twelve billion doses of mRNA vaccines have been administered globally. These ...
- Researchers identify neutrophils as major culprits in treatment resistance of pancreatic cancer
Researchers have shown for the first time exactly how immature neutrophils—white blood cells that are an important part of the immune system—are hijacked by pancreatic cancers to drive ...
- Molecular Medicine
The Master of Science in Molecular Medicine (MMED) program provides training in the academic, research and entrepreneurial aspects of the biomedical sciences with an emphasis on translational research ...
- Neutral Theory: The Null Hypothesis of Molecular Evolution
In the decades since its introduction, the neutral theory of evolution has become central to the study of evolution at the molecular level, in part because it provides a way to make strong ...
- DART VADAR alters the deal for precision RNA-based therapies
Before 2020, you’d be hard-pressed to have found talk of mRNA therapies in the media. And while not a new technology, having been identified in 1961, it was thrown into the spotlight with the ...
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Molecular circuit
[google_news title=”” keyword=”molecular circuit” num_posts=”5″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]