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Category: computing – Page 170

Intel begins groundwork on Magdeburg chip fab despite 13 remaining regulatory and environmental objections

Fab 29.1 and Fab 29.2 will span roughly 81,000 square meters, with a combined length of 530 meters and a width of 153 meters. Including roof structures for air conditioning and heating, the buildings will reach a height of 36.7 meters, with several underground floors as well. The cross-section plans show multiple above-ground floors with heights ranging from 5.7 to 6.5 meters.

Initially, construction of Intel’s Fab 29 was scheduled to begin in the first half of 2023, but delays in subsidy approvals pushed the start to the summer of 2024. Recently it turned out that construction of Intel’s Fab 29 modules 1 and 2 near Magdeburg, Germany, has been delayed to May 2025 due to the pending approval of EU subsidies and the requirement to relocate black soil for reuse at another site.

Intel’s Fab 29 modules 1 and 2 were initially scheduled to start operations in late 2027 and make chips on Intel’s 14A (1.4nm) and 10A (1nm) production nodes. Typically, Intel launches new client PC products in the second half of the year and ramps up production in the first half. The fabs were intended to produce client PC products set for release in the second half of 2028. Although production could begin if the fabs were ready by mid-2028, the timeline would be tight. However, some of the latest reports indicate a different schedule, estimating four to five years for construction, with production now expected to start between 2029 and 2030.

Engineers develop advanced optical computing method for multiplexed data processing and encryption

Engineers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have unveiled a major advancement in optical computing technology that promises to enhance data processing and encryption. The work is published in the journal Laser & Photonics Reviews.

This innovative work, led by Professor Aydogan Ozcan and his team, showcases a reconfigurable diffractive optical network capable of executing high-dimensional permutation operations, offering a significant leap forward in telecommunications and data security applications.

Permutation operations, essential for various applications, including telecommunications and encryption, have traditionally relied on electronic hardware. However, the UCLA team’s advancement uses all-optical diffractive computing to perform these operations in a multiplexed manner, significantly improving efficiency and scalability.

A new approach to realize quantum mechanical squeezing

Mechanical systems are highly suitable for realizing applications such as quantum information processing, quantum sensing and bosonic quantum simulation. The effective use of these systems for these applications, however, relies on the ability to manipulate them in unique ways, specifically by ‘squeezing’ their states and introducing nonlinear effects in the quantum regime.

A research team at ETH Zurich led by Dr. Matteo Fadel recently introduced a new approach to realize quantum squeezing in a nonlinear mechanical oscillator. This approach, outlined in a paper published in Nature Physics, could have interesting implications for the development of quantum metrology and sensing technologies.

“Initially, our goal was to prepare a mechanical squeezed state, namely a quantum state of motion with reduced quantum fluctuations along one phase-space direction,” Fadel told Phys.org. “Such states are important for and quantum simulation applications. They are one of the in the universal gate set for quantum computing with continuous-variable systems—meaning mechanical degrees of freedom, , etc., as opposed to qubits that are discrete-variable systems.”

New material paves the way to on-chip energy harvesting

Researchers from Germany, Italy, and the UK have achieved a major advance in the development of materials suitable for on-chip energy harvesting. By composing an alloy made of silicon, germanium and tin, they were able to create a thermoelectric material, promising to transform the waste heat of computer processors back into electricity.

With all elements coming from the 4th main group of the periodic table, these new semiconductor alloy can be easily integrated into the CMOS process of chip production. The research findings are published in ACS Applied Energy Materials.

The increasing use of electronic devices in all aspects of our lives is driving up energy consumption. Most of this energy is dissipated into the environment in the form of heat.

Flying Qudits: Unlocking New Dimensions of Quantum Communication

Researchers have developed a breakthrough method for quantum information transmission using light particles called qudits, which utilize the spatial mode and polarization properties to enable faster, more secure data transfer and increased resistance to errors.

This technology could greatly enhance the capabilities of a quantum internet, providing long-distance, secure communication, and leading to the development of powerful quantum computers and unbreakable encryption.

Scientists have made a significant breakthrough in creating a new method for transmitting quantum information using particles of light called qudits. These qudits promise a future quantum internet that is both secure and powerful.

Revolutionizing Magnetism: Polarized Light Unlocks Ultrafast Data Storage and Spintronics

New research introduces a non-thermal method for magnetization using circularly polarized XUV light, which induces significant magnetization changes through the inverse Faraday effect, potentially transforming ultrafast data storage and spintronics.

Intense laser pulses can be used to manipulate or even switch the magnetization orientation of a material on extremely short time scales. Typically, such effects are thermally induced, as the absorbed laser energy heats up the material very rapidly, causing an ultrafast perturbation of the magnetic order.

Scientists from the Max Born Institute (MBI), in collaboration with an international team of researchers, have now demonstrated an effective non-thermal approach of generating large magnetization changes. By exposing a ferrimagnetic iron-gadolinium alloy to circularly polarized pulses of extreme ultraviolet (XUV) radiation, they could reveal a particularly strong magnetic response depending on the handedness of the incoming XUV light burst (left-or right-circular polarization).

Research team creates process to grow sub-nanometer transistors

Why it matters: Moore’s Law might not be dead after all. A new technique using nanomaterials can further miniaturize transistors, allowing fab plants to pack more of them on each chip. This research opens up new possibilities for creating advanced semiconductor devices with features smaller than current lithography techniques allow.

A South Korean research team led by Director Jo Moon-Ho of the Center for Van der Waals Quantum Solids within South Korea’s Institute for Basic Science has made a significant advancement in semiconductor and nanomaterial technology that could lead to the development of much smaller, more efficient, and more powerful electronic devices. The new technique can grow “one-dimentional” metallic nanaomaterials with widths as narrow as 0.4 nanometers for use as gate electrodes on 2D substrates. The technique promises to overcome the limitations of traditional lithography.

Integrated devices based on two-dimensional semiconductors exhibit excellent electrical properties even when thinned to atomic-scale thickness, making them promising candidates for creating ultra-thin, high-performance electronic devices. A separate study indicates that these 2D logic circuits are promising candidates for the post-Moore’s Law era.