A new way to change electronic states on demand could make electronic devices 1,000 times faster and more efficient, researchers say.
In a new study published June 27 in the journal Nature Physics, scientists discovered that heating and cooling of quantum materials can insulate and transmit electricity according to temperature.
The material, named 1T-Tas₂, could potentially replace traditional silicon components in electronic devices such as laptops and smartphones. Quantum materials can accomplish the same task faster and provide exponentially less leeway, the researchers suggest.
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When materials such as 1T-Tas₂ are employed for use in electronic devices, the amount of information that can be processed in one second increases by 1000 times. “The processor currently runs on Gigahertz, which allows us to go to Terahertz, due to the speed of change that allows this to happen,” said Alberto de La Torre, a physical physicist at Northeastern University and a leading author of the study, in a statement.
Thermal extinction
The technique used by the researchers is called thermal quenching. This includes shining light on materials with unique quantum properties when activated to raise temperature. For 1t-tas₂, the activated property is the metal conductivity.
As researchers call it in their studies, this stable “hidden metal state” was previously achieved, but at extremely cold temperatures, only under a second. New research shows that this property can be achieved by temperature fluctuations at temperatures that are approximately -100 degrees Fahrenheit (-73 degrees Celsius), more practical, warmer than previous experiments. Furthermore, this method allows the conductivity to be maintained for several months at a time.
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When light is removed, the temperature of the material drops and 1t-tas₂ returns to its original insulation state. The results are comparable to transistors, the semiconductor devices of most modern electronic devices that control the flow of power. Advances in transistors are often praised for following Moore’s laws for reducing computers from machines that once occupied a room to those that fit in pockets.
Understanding how to control quantum materials could similarly translate Northeastern University theoretical physicist and co-author of the paper, Gregory Fiet, said in a statement.
“What we’re shooting is the highest level of control over material properties,” he said. “We want to do something very quickly and have very certain results, because it’s something that can be exploited on a device.”
“Nothing is faster than light.”
Finding a way to switch conductivity states at higher temperatures is a game changer to ultimately replace silicon-based technology, Fiete explained. Traditional silicon semiconductors contain many dense logic components with physical limitations.
This new technique combines both electrically conductive and thermally insulating properties into a single object, allowing quantum materials to accomplish the same tasks as silicon components, while using much less space. “We put everything in one material and eliminate one of the engineering challenges,” he said.
Thermal quenching also depends on light to control conductivity, which can increase computing speed. “Everyone who has used a computer before will encounter a point where something wants to load faster,” Fiete added. “Nothing is faster than light. We use light to control material properties at the fastest possible speeds allowed by physics, essentially as fast as possible.”
This research opens up a new future in electronics where engineers can instantly control material properties. “We need a new paradigm to get an incredible enhancement in information storage or operational speed,” Fiet said. “That’s the purpose of this job.”
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