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    Category Technology/Electronics

    Researchers Demonstrate 3D Nanoscale Optical Disk Memory with Petabit Capacity

    March 4, 2024, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    High-capacity data storage is indispensable in today's digital economy. However, major storage devices like hard disk drives and semiconductor flash devices face limitations in terms of cost-effectiveness, durability, and longevity.Read More

    New Chip Opens Door to AI Computing at Light Speed

    February 20, 2024, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    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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    New Material Design for Transistors could Downsize Next-Gen Tech

    February 4, 2024, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    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

    February 2, 2024, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    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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