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    Category Physics

    Harnessing Noise in Optical Computing for AI

    January 26, 2022, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    An illustration of the UW ECE-led research team’s integrated optical computing chip and “handwritten” numbers it generated. The chip contains an artificial neural network that can learn how to write like a human in its own, distinct style. This optical computing system uses “noise” (stray photons from lasers and thermal background radiation) to augment its creative capabilities. The system is also approximately 10 times faster than comparable conventional digital computers and more energy efficient, helping to put AI and machine learning on a path toward environmental sustainability. Illustration by Changming Wu

    A research team has developed an optical computing system for AI and machine learning that not only mitigates the noise inherent to optical computing but actually use...

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    New Efficiency Record for Solar Cell Technology

    January 25, 2022, Categories  Physics, Chemistry/Nanotechnology

    Solar cells made using perovskite and organic materials are flexible, light, low cost and ultra-thin. They are ideal for powering vehicles, boats, and more.

    A team of researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has set a new record in the power conversion efficiency of solar cells made using perovskite and organic materials. This technological breakthrough paves the way for flexible, light-weight, low cost and ultra-thin photovoltaic cells which are ideal for powering vehicles, boats, blinds and other applications.

    “Technologies for clean and renewable energy are extremely important for carbon reduction. Solar cells that directly convert solar energy into electricity are among the most promising clean energy technologies...

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    Scientists make First Detection of Exotic X Particles in Quark-Gluon Plasma

    January 25, 2022, Categories  Physics, Astronomy/Space

    Caption:Physicists have found evidence of rare X particles in the quark-gluon plasma produced in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. The findings could redefine the kinds of particles that were abundant in the early universe.
    Credits:Image: iStockphoto

    The findings could redefine the kinds of particles that were abundant in the early universe. Physicists have found evidence of X particles in the quark-gluon plasma produced in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, based near Geneva, Switzerland.

    In the first millionths of a second after the Big Bang, the universe was a roiling, trillion-degree plasma of quarks and gluons – elementary particles that briefly glommed together in countless combinations before cooling and settling int...

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    Scientists achieve key elements for Fault-Tolerant Quantum Computation in Silicon Spin Qubits

    January 21, 2022, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    The silicon quantum computer chip used in this study

    Researchers from RIKEN and QuTech — a collaboration between TU Delft and the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) — have achieved a key milestone toward the development of a fault-tolerant quantum computer. They were able to demonstrate a two-qubit gate fidelity of 99.5 percent — higher than the 99 percent considered to be the threshold for building fault-tolerant computers — using electron spin qubits in silicon, which are promising for large-scale quantum computers as the nanofabrication technology for building them already exists. This study was published in Nature.

    The world is currently in a race to develop large-scale quantum computers that could vastly outperform classical computers in certain area...

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