New Signal Amplification, Cycling Excitation Process (CEP), Opens Up New Generation of Electronic Systems

Researchers from the University of California, San Diego has discovered a new signal amplification process called CEP or Cycling Excitation Process.

CEP can amplify photocurrents at a much lower voltage and noise than current existing methods.

Current semiconductor devices use photodetectors and low-noise electronic amplifiers to convert optical signals into electronic signals with amplification to enable information detection and processing. The UC San Diego team found a more efficient method by modifying the p/n junction, a boundary or interface between two types of semiconductor material inside a single crystal of semiconductor.

CEP can be used in devices and semiconductors which opens up a myriad of possibilities in the semiconductor industry; communication and imaging devices with superior sensitivity can be produced at a low cost.

New types of transistors and circuits can also be produced that furthers the scope of applications past optical detection.

High Speed Bistable Graphene Transistor Being Developed

Graphene transistor

A graphene transistor exhibiting bistable characteristics in which charge-carrying electrons move at incredible speeds of up to trillions of switches per second has been developed.

Graphene has been touted as the wonder material with uses ranging from conductors, transistors, and even as a material for batteries.

Graphene is a better conductor for electricity than silicon and conducts heat better than copper. It is almost invisible since it is only one atom thick and is flexible, allowing it to be molded into different shapes. Graphene is also as strong as a diamond.

Just like graphene, diamonds are also made up of carbon atoms. Carbon atoms in a diamond are interconnected with four strong atomic bonds. With graphene, the carbon atoms are interconnected in three strong atomic bonds. But unlike diamonds, graphene is not rare. Graphene comes from graphite, the material used for pencil lead. Graphite is actually layers of graphene that are connected together with a weak atomic bond.

Graphene can be applied to a substrate like plastic foil, where it can be used in electronic devices that are flexible, energy efficient, and faster than conventional silicon based transistors. Graphene can transmit ten times more data than silicon.

Spintronic 3D Microchip Developed

A new type of microchip based on spintronic technology was created that not only moves information from left to right and back to front, but up and down as well.

In electronics, semiconductors utilize the electrical charge carried by the electron. It carries either a positive charge or negative charge. Information is based on the charge of these electrons.

Aside from the electrical charge, electrons also has another property; its spin. The spin of an electron makes it behave like a bar magnet. It either points up or down. Spintronic technology takes advantage of this property to add one more component in storing information in an electron. Aside from the charge which could either be positive or negative, it can also carry information based on the spin which is either up or down.

Spintronic devices act according to the following scheme:

1. Information is stored (written) into spins as a particular spin orientation (up or down).
2. The spin, being attached to mobile electrons, carry the information along a wire.
3. The information is read at a terminal.

The spin orientation lasts longer than electron momentum (nanoseconds -10x^-9 compared to femtoseconds -10x^-15). This makes it optimal for applications such as memory storage and magnetic sensors applications.

Because of the efficiency in storing and transmitting information, spintronic based devices are smaller, cheaper, stable and more accurate than existing conventional devices. At the moment, some hard drives use this technology in data storage.

Qubit On A Silicon Based Transistor For Quantum Computing Developed

The next evolution in computers is the quantum computer. With quantum computers, processors within utilize properties of atoms as dictated by quantum mechanics.

Classical computers (computers used today) use bits. Bits can be assigned either a 0 state or a 1 state to create a binary code. Using the 0 or 1 state, calculations are performed, information can be processed, and instructions followed.

Quantum computers use a different kind of bit; the qubit. Atoms generate spin, an up-spin and a down-spin, just like a regular computer bit, the up-spin and down-spin is similar to the 0 or 1 state. What makes the qubit special is that it also has a state called Superposition where the qubit is both up and down at the same time.

It is this superposition that makes quantum computing possible. An example would be an instruction to dial one million numbers. The classical computer would go about this by dialing the numbers one at a time. A quantum computer would dial all numbers in one step.

Technology is still far from constructing a practical quantum computer but each day, new developments are bringing it closer and closer to fruition. Early stage quantum computers the size of a room have already been built.

An often used principle when it comes to quantum computing is Moore's law. Moore's Law states that computer processing power continues to double every 18 months. This means that by the year 2030 or earlier, we will find that the circuits on a microprocessor will approach the atomic scale and quantum computing will be the norm.

Single-atom writer a landmark for quantum computing

A research team led by Australian engineers has created the first working quantum bit based on a single atom in silicon, opening the way to ultra-powerful quantum computers of the future.

In a landmark paper published today in the journal Nature, the team describes how it was able to both read and write information using the spin, or magnetic orientation, of an electron bound to a single phosphorus atom embedded in a silicon chip.

"For the first time, we have demonstrated the ability to represent and manipulate data on the spin to form a quantum bit, or 'qubit', the basic unit of data for a quantum computer," says Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak. "This really is the key advance towards realising a silicon quantum computer based on single atoms."