Nanotechnology Spotlight – Latest Articles

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Showing Spotlights 9 - 16 of 40 in category All (newest first):

 

The thinnest CD-RW

data-encryptionThe bottleneck in atomic-scale data storage area may be broken by a simple technique, thanks to recent innovative studies. Through a simple, efficient and low-cost technique involving the focused laser beam and ozone treatment, researchers can manipulate the properties of nanomaterials, thereby 'writing' information onto monolayer materials. The result is a demonstration of the thinnest light disk with rewritable data storage and encryption functionalities at the atomic level.

Jul 28th, 2021

Piezoelectric energy absorption in quantum interfaces

quantum-computingResearchers have developed a theory of piezoelectrics with the goal to increase coherence times in quantum computers. In new work, they elucidate the mechanism of energy absorption taking place in quantum computers, and recommends optimal materials for these devices. The new theory predicts qubit coherence times that are over 100 times greater than the current state of the art. This shows that material improvements can go a long way towards improving the quality of quantum computing devices, bringing quantum advantage one step closer.

Nov 18th, 2020

Solar-powered smart dust

microchipResearchers demonstrate that dust-sized photovoltaic cells grown on silicon substrate can be heterogeneously integrated with other chiplets using a high-throughput wafer-level packaging process. The ability to integrate various nanoelectronic chiplets - such as processor, memory, and photovoltaics - in an industrial-scale wafer-level-packaging process, unlocks the potential of large-scale manufacturing of these compact integrated systems with high performance and ultralow cost.

Oct 27th, 2020

Learning in artificial synapses tuned by light

synapseThere is a huge effort underway to use memristor devices in neuromorphic computing applications and it is now reasonable to imagine the development of a new generation of artificial intelligent devices with very low power consumption (non-volatile), ultra-fast performance and high-density integration. In new work,r esearchers were not only able to achieve to small switching effects in memristors using light, they take advantage of a percolating-like nanoparticle morphology to vastly increase the magnitude of the switching between electronic resistance states when light is incident on the device.

Jun 19th, 2019

New version of memory could power AI phones, smart devices

memory_cellFor the first time, researchers have successfully developed a new version of phase-change memory that reduces the switching time and allows memory cells to produce excellent stability. The new type of phase-change memory can be as fast as state-of-the-art RAM chips being considered to power artificial intelligence (AI) in phones, and it could also be used to power a range of other smart devices. The new version of phase-change memory could be manufactured with a cheap process: The procedure uses a normal voltage pulse and requires no additional special materials.

Dec 31st, 2018

'Multiplex number' as a new figure-of-merit for non-volatile resistive memory devices

barsResistive random access memory (RRAM) is envisioned as a next generation non-volatile memory because of the simple device geometry, ease of fabrication and operation. The necessity of high-density information storage and its relevance in neuromorphic circuitry has gained much attention and led to the development of multilevel resistive switching (MRS) for multiple memory states. In a recent study, researchers have defined a new figure-of-merit to identify the efficiency of resistive switching devices with multiple memory states. This will assist researches as well as technologist in classifying and deciding the true merit of their memory devices.

Feb 1st, 2016

Printed paper memory

printed_paper_memoryIt seems that computer memory technology is coming full circle. Pioneers in the early 19th century, such as Charles Babbage, first proposed the use of paper memory (albeit non-electronic), where a bit was stored as the presence or absence of a hole in a paper card. State-of-the-art research today again is proposing the use of paper as memory devices. This time, although he paper may be very similar, the bits are not crudely punched holes but nanofabricated device structures. In new work, researchers demonstrated a paper-based, nonvolatile memory device. Theyused a combination of inkjet and screen printing to fabricate resistive RAM memory cells on commercial printing paper.

Jul 29th, 2014

Ferroelectric nanoparticle-doped liquid crystal - a nonvolatile multi-stable memory function

ferromagneticBi-stability is widely used in digital electronics devices to store binary data. It is the essential characteristic of the flip-flop, a circuit widely used in latches and some types of semiconductor memory. However, it is possible to store more data at the nanoscale with multi-stable memory functions. Researchers have now developed a multi-stable nonvolatile soft memory function by doping ferroelectric nanoparticles into liquid crystal matrices.

Feb 19th, 2014