energy efficiency tagged posts

Next-generation AI hardware: 3D photonic-electronic platform boosts efficiency and bandwidth

New study showcases 3D photonics with record performance for AI
3D photonic chip module. Credit: Keren Bergman

Artificial intelligence (AI) systems promise transformative advancements, yet their growth has been limited by energy inefficiencies and bottlenecks in data transfer. Researchers at Columbia Engineering have unveiled a groundbreaking solution: a 3D photonic-electronic platform that achieves unprecedented energy efficiency and bandwidth density, paving the way for next-generation AI hardware.

The study, “3D Photonics for Ultra-Low Energy, High Bandwidth-Density Chip Data Links,” led by Keren Bergman, Charles Batchelor Professor of Electrical Engineering, is published in Nature Photonics.

The research details a pioneering method that integrates photonics with advanced complementary-metal- oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) electronics to redef...

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Researchers create Breakthrough Spintronics Manufacturing Process that could Revolutionize the Electronics Industry

Computer data chip
University of Minnesota Twin Cities researchers have developed a breakthrough process for making spintronic devices that has the potential to create semiconductor chips with unmatched energy efficiency and storage for use in computers, smartphones, and many other electronics.

May lead to devices with ‘unmatched’ energy efficiency and memory storage density. University of Minnesota Twin Cities researchers, along with a team at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), have developed a breakthrough process for making spintronic devices that has the potential to become the new industry standard for semiconductors chips that make up computers, smartphones, and many other electronics...

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The First Commercially Scalable Integrated Laser and Microcomb on a Single Chip

Artist's concept illustration of electrically controlled optical frequency combs at wafer scale
Artist’s concept illustration of electrically controlled optical frequency combs at wafer scale
Photo Credit: 
ILLUSTRATION BY BRIAN LONG

Fifteen years ago, UC Jim Sanchezta Barbara electrical and materials professor John Bowers pioneered a method for integrating a laser onto a silicon wafer. The technology has since been widely deployed in combination with other silicon photonics devices to replace the copper-wire interconnects that formerly linked servers at data centers, dramatically increasing energy efficiency — an important endeavor at a time when data traffic is growing by roughly 25% per year.

For several years, the Bowers group has collaborated with the group of Tobias J...

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Fuel Cells: For Platinum Catalysts, Tiny Squeeze gives big Boost in Performance

illustration of lithiation and delithiation

Bottom: Platinum atoms attached to layers of lithium cobalt oxide contract when electricity is applied, boosting platinum catalytic efficiency by 90 percent. Top: Removing electrons separates the atoms and lowers efficiency by 40 percent. (1 Ångstrom = 0.1 nanometer) (Image credit: Haotian Wang)

A nanosize squeeze can significantly boost the performance of platinum catalysts that help generate energy in fuel cells, according to a new study by Stanford scientists. The team bonded a platinum catalyst to a thin material that expands and contracts as electrons move in and out, and found that squeezing the platinum a fraction of a nanometer nearly doubled its catalytic activity.

“In this study, we present a new way to fine...

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