Transistor shrinking intensifies.
Category: computing – Page 204
Turbocharged Skyrmions: Accelerating Toward the Future of Computing
Scientists discovered that skyrmions, potential future bits for computer memory, can now move at speeds up to 900 m/s, a significant increase facilitated by the use of antiferromagnetic materials.
An international research team led by scientists from the CNRS[1] has discovered that the magnetic nanobubbles[2] known as skyrmions can be moved by electrical currents, attaining record speeds up to 900 m/s.
Anticipated as future bits in computer memory, these nanobubbles offer enhanced avenues for information processing in electronic devices. Their tiny size[3] provides great computing and information storage capacity, as well as low energy consumption.
Crucial Connection Completed: Laying the Foundation for the Quantum Internet
Researchers have produced, stored, and retrieved quantum information for the first time, a critical step in quantum networking.
The ability to share quantum information is crucial for developing quantum networks for distributed computing and secure communication. Quantum computing will be useful for solving some important types of problems, such as optimizing financial risk, decrypting data, designing molecules, and studying the properties of materials.
“Interfacing two key devices together is a crucial step forward in allowing quantum networking, and we are really excited to be the first team to have been able to demonstrate this.” —
Intel’s Hala Point, the world’s largest neuromorphic computer, has 1.15 billion neurons
Three years after introducing its second-generation “neuromorphic” computer chip, Intel on Wednesday announced the company has assembled 1,152 of the parts into a single, parallel-processing system called Hala Point, in partnership with the US Department of Energy’s Sandia National Laboratories.
The Hala Point system’s 1,152 Loihi 2 chips enable a total of 1.15 billion artificial neurons, Intel said, “and 128 billion synapses distributed over 140,544 neuromorphic processing cores.” That is an increase from the previous Intel multi-chip Loihi system, debuted in 2020, called Pohoiki Springs, which used just 768 Loihi 1 chips.
Sandia Labs intends to use the system for what it calls “brain-scale computing research,” to solve problems in areas of device physics, computer architecture, computer science, and informatics.
Machine at Intel’s Hillsboro campus can produce chips so advanced, they don’t yet exist
Engineers and developers at Intel are always working to push the boundaries of what’s possible, leaning on Moore’s Law — the idea that the number of transistors on a single chip will double every two years with a minimal increase in cost.
But over the last five years, Intel has had its ups and downs, demonstrated by the wavering value of its stock. It went from a high of $68 per share to more recently trading at $36 per share.
By investing $100 billion in American factories and innovation, the company hopes to turn that trend around. In late March, the company learned that it had secured $8.5 billion from the Biden administration, paired with another $11 billion in loans, with the goal of bringing chip manufacturing back to the U.S.
TSMC to charge premium for making chips outside of Taiwan, including its new US fabs, CEO says
Indeed, the costs of building fabs in Germany, Japan, and the U.S. are higher than the costs of building fabs in Taiwan and TSMC has complained about it a number of times in the past. The company even had to delay production start at its Fab 21 near Phoenix, Arizona, due to problems with tools installation and negotiations with trade unions.
Therefore, if a TSMC customer wants to produce its chips at a specific location, then the foundry will charge a premium. How high is that premium will be remains to be seen, but last year a media report indicated that chips made in Arizona on TSMC’s N5 and N4 production nodes could be from 20% to 30% more expensive than the same chips produced in Taiwan.
Due to higher construction and operational expenses of fabs in Japan, Germany, and the U.S., TSMC plans to transfer these additional costs to its customers to sustain its target gross margin of 53%. Although American chip designers may not welcome the increased production costs in the U.S., they will probably manufacture chips intended for government and other markets less sensitive to price increases at the Arizona facility. Consequently, they should manage to pass on these higher costs to at least some of their end customers without jeopardizing their market competitiveness.
Field-Free Future: The Rise of Quantum Precision in Electronics
Researchers at the University of Würzburg have developed a method that can improve the performance of quantum resistance standards. It’s based on a quantum phenomenon called the Quantum Anomalous Hall effect.
The precise measurement of electrical resistance is essential in the industrial production of electronics – for example, in the manufacture of high-tech sensors, microchips, and flight controls. “Very precise measurements are essential here, as even the smallest deviations can significantly affect these complex systems,” explains Professor Charles Gould, a physicist at the Institute for Topological Insulators at the University of Würzburg (JMU).
With our new measurement method, we can significantly improve the accuracy.
Compact quantum light processing: New findings lead to advances in optical quantum computing
An international collaboration of researchers, led by Philip Walther at University of Vienna, have achieved a significant breakthrough in quantum technology, with the successful demonstration of quantum interference among several single photons using a novel resource-efficient platform. The work published in Science Advances represents a notable advancement in optical quantum computing that paves the way for more scalable quantum technologies.