Category Technology/Electronics

Harnessing Noise in Optical Computing for AI

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

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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Mini Electricity Generator made from Quantum Dots

Mickael L. Perrin in his lab at Empa. Here he will set on to create a quantum heat engine that operates at room temperature using graphene nanoribbons. Image: Empa

Machines and electronic devices often generate waste heat that is difficult to utilize. If electricity could be generated from this waste heat, it would offer a means for a clean and sustainable power production: Such a technology would be ideally suited for low-power electronics applications such as wearables or low-cost Internet-of-Things devices. This includes, for example, wearable (medical) devices and sensors, with a wide range of applications in the healthcare and sports industry, in smart buildings and mobility applications.

Thermoelectric generators, machines that generate electricity by exploiting temperature di...

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Edge Processing Research takes discovery closer to use in Artificial Intelligence Networks

Using the multimodal transistor (MMT) in artificial neural networks, which mimic the human brain, is an important step towards using thin-film transistors as artificial intelligence hardware.

Researchers at the University of Surrey have successfully demonstrated proof-of-concept of using their multimodal transistor (MMT) in artificial neural networks, which mimic the human brain.

This is an important step towards using thin-film transistors as artificial intelligence hardware and moves edge computing forward, with the prospect of reducing power needs and improving efficiency, rather than relying solely on computer chips.

The MMT, first reported by Surrey researchers in 2020, overcomes long-standing challenges associated with transistors and can perform the same operations as more...

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