Category Physics

New Chip Opens Door to AI Computing at Light Speed

Streaks of blue light representing information run from right to left.
Computing at the speed of light may reduce the energy cost of training AI. (Narongrit Doungmanee via Getty Images)

University of Pennsylvania engineers have developed a new chip that uses light waves, rather than electricity, to perform the complex math essential to training AI. The chip has the potential to radically accelerate the processing speed of computers while also reducing their energy consumption.

The silicon-photonic (SiPh) chip’s design is the first to bring together Benjamin Franklin Medal Laureate and H...

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A Physical Qubit with built-in Error Correction

The creation of a photonic “Schrödinger cat state” – in other words the quantum superposition of states of the laser pulse amplitude that can be distinguished on a macroscopic scale (white or black cat) – can only be achieved using the most advanced quantum optical techniques and has already been demonstrated to be possible. In the present experiment that is subject of the research paper, it proved to be feasible to extend this to three states (white, gray, and black cats). This light state thus approaches a logical quantum state in which errors can be, in principle, universally corrected. (ill./ ©: Peter van Loock)

There has been significant progress in the field of quantum computing.

Big global players, such as Google and IBM, are already offering cloud-based quantum com...

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New Material Design for Transistors could Downsize Next-Gen Tech

New material design for transistors could downsize next-gen tech
An atomic-scale rendering of the Mott insulator (green) and underlying material (blue) that proved key to refining and stabilizing the performance of a potentially smaller transistor. Credit: University of Nebraska-Lincoln

By better taming the Jekyll-and-Hyde nature of an alternative to the semiconductor—one that transitions from electricity-resisting insulator to current-conducting metal—Nebraska’s Xia Hong and colleagues may have unlocked a new path to smaller, more efficient digital devices. The team reports its findings in the journal Nature Communications.

The semiconductor’s ability to conduct electricity in the Goldilocks zone—poorer than a metal, better than an insulator—positioned it as the just-right choice for engineers looking to build transistors, the tiny on-off sw...

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Scientists make Breakthrough in Quantum Materials Research

A “bending station,” a device crafted in the laboratory of Luis Jaurequi, UCI professor of physics and astronomy, can change the electrical characteristics of materials at the atomic scale. Steve Zylius / UCI

The advance will allow researchers to transform everyday materials into conductors for use in quantum computers. Researchers at the University of California, Irvine and Los Alamos National Laboratory, publishing in the latest issue of Nature Communications, describe the discovery of a new method that transforms everyday materials like glass into materials scientists can use to make quantum computers.

“The materials we made are substances that exhibit unique electrical or quantum properties because of their specific atomic shapes or structures,” said Luis A...

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