Lifeboat Foundation

Circa 2019

Light is the most energy-efficient way of moving information. Yet, light shows one big limitation: it is difficult to store. As a matter of fact, data centers rely primarily on magnetic hard drives. However, in these hard drives, information is transferred at an energy cost that is nowadays exploding. Researchers of the Institute of Photonic Integration of the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) have developed a ‘hybrid technology’ which shows the advantages of both light and magnetic hard drives.

Ultra-short (femtosecond) light pulses allows data to be directly written in a magnetic memory in a fast and highly energy-efficient way. Moreover, as soon as the information is written (and stored), it moves forward leaving space to empty memory domains to be filled in with new data. This research, published in Nature Communications, promises to revolutionize the process of data storage in future photonic integrated circuits.

Continue reading “Next generation photonic memory devices are ‘light-written,’ ultrafast and energy efficient” »

Circa 2015 This is basically amazing leading to speeds in a computer basically infinite.

Quantum gases of atoms and exciton-polaritons are nowadays a well established theoretical and experimental tool for fundamental studies of quantum many-body physics and suggest promising applications to quantum computing. Given their technological complexity, it is of paramount interest to devise other systems where such quantum many-body physics can be investigated at a lesser technological expense. Here we examine a relatively well-known system of laser light propagating through thermo-optical defocusing media: based on a hydrodynamical description of light as a quantum fluid of interacting photons, we investigate such systems as a valid, room temperature alternative to atomic or exciton-polariton condensates for studies of many-body physics.

Quantum computers are promising computing machines that perform computations leveraging the collective properties of quantum physics states. These computers could help to tackle many computational problems that are currently intractable with conventional computers.

Despite their promise, fabricating quantum computers on a large-scale is currently very challenging, as a full-scale quantum computer integrates millions of qubits. To ensure that they can be produced using industrial semiconductor manufacturing processes, quantum device engineers have been trying to create quantum computers based on silicon quantum dots.

Nonetheless, existing quantum computers have been primarily fabricated using electron-beam lithography and conventional lift-off processes. This greatly limits their production rates, as both these processes only yield a few properly functioning devices at a time.

A blend of Victorian thermodynamics and futuristic quantum computing come together in one author’s new vision.

3D printed ICs overcome semiconductor shortage and reinforce supply chains, leading to cheaper production costs, faster prototyping, and faster time to market.

As the size of microchip packages shrinks, semiconductor manufacturers are under pressure to improve lithography capabilities. For more than two decades, researchers have been working on 3D printed integrated circuits. Earlier attempts at 3D printing electronics used the proper technique but failed to reach the required levels of conductivity for a PCB, leaving complicated electrical circuits unusable. Over time though, these printing tools have gradually improved feature size resolution, yield, and variability in production.

● A broad variety of materials may be used to produce an assortment of printed electronics, including conductors, semiconductors, dielectrics, resistors, and other components. ● As has been the case in other areas, additive manufacturing is expected to result in more innovative products, lower costs, and faster production runs.

Design also poised to save space, retain memory in event of power loss. A new spin on one of the 20th century’s smallest but grandest inventions, the transistor, could help feed the world’s ever-growing appetite for digital memory while slicing up to 5% of the energy from its power-hungry diet.

A new spin on one of the 20th century’s smallest but grandest inventions, the transistor, could help feed the world’s ever-growing appetite for digital memory while slicing up to 5% of the energy from its power-hungry diet.

Following years of innovations from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Christian Binek and University at Buffalos Jonathan Bird and Keke He, the physicists recently teamed up to craft the first magneto-electric transistor.

Along with curbing the energy consumption of any microelectronics that incorporate it, the team’s design could reduce the number of transistors needed to store certain data by as much as 75%, said Nebraska physicist Peter Dowben, leading to smaller devices. It could also lend those microelectronics steel-trap memory that remembers exactly where its users leave off, even after being shut down or abruptly losing power.

One of the ways we can fully realize the potential of quantum computers is by basing them on both light and matter – this way, information can be stored and processed, but also travel at the speed of light.

Scientists have just taken a step closer to this goal, by successfully producing the largest hybrid particles of light and matter ever created.

These quasiparticles, known as Rydberg polaritons, were made with the help of a piece of stone containing cuprous oxide (Cu₂O) crystals from an ancient deposit in Namibia, one of the few places in the world where cuprous oxide has been found in gemstone quality.