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A Plasmonic Revolution for Computer Chips?

Posted by timothy on from the oooh-lookit-move-around-all-squishy-like dept.

Roland Piquepaille writes "Today, we're using basically two ways to move data in our computers: transistors carry small amounts of data and are extremely small, while fiber optic cables can carry huge amounts of data, but are much bigger in size. Now, imagine a single technology combining the advantages of photonics and electronics. This Stanford University report says a new technology can do it: plasmonics. (For more about plasmons, read this Wikipedia article.) Theoretically, it is possible to design plasmonic components with the same materials used today by chipmakers, but with frequencies 100,000 times greater than the ones of current microprocessors. There is still a challenge to solve before getting plasmonic chips. Today, plasmons can only travel a few millimeters before dying, while today's chips are typically about a centimeter across. Read this overview for more details and references about plasmonics, and to discover why it's one possible future for chips' circuitry."

7 of 188 comments (clear)

  1. Alright by OverlordQ · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Lets keep it simple, put all of the Roland Piquepaille conspiracy posts here. :)

    Editors: GIVE HIM HIS OWN DAMN SECTION SO CAN HIDE HIS POSTS

    --
    Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
  2. The future is now. by Sheetrock · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Not only for plasmonics, but for mutable instruction sets. There has been a tendency in computing innovation to withdraw to yesterday's discoveries. Tried-and-true approaches offer the twin comforts of backwards compatibility and tested reliability, attractive propositions to the modern CEO or venture capitalist savvy enough to recognize the additional benefit of recognizing further gains on already completed research. Unfortunately, and in my opinion, this follow-the-leader approach has lead to stagnation in CPU development. I'll explain using a simplified analogy for the benefit of the less technically-inclined.

    Let us think of a computer processing unit as a juggler, and bytes as mangoes. Older CPUs would juggle one mango at a time, and frequently require modifications to the stage to boot. Around the 1980s, they could juggle two mangoes. Then four around 1990, and today as many as eight at a time! Now you would be expected to be quite impressed with each leap, notwithstanding the fact that you really wanted a juggler that could handle melons, grapefruit, or watermelon slices instead of (or in addition to) mangoes. In addition, the fact that you are juggling in a zoo where a primate is free to grab your fruit and substitute twigs (or worse!) mid-juggle owing to something called "stack smashing" in computer terminology is not supposed to discourage you.

    There is a movement towards something called mutable paragraphs, where as in English "words" (groups of bytes) can be of different lengths depending on need. This may mean the ability to exactly fill out a data page for better efficiency, or to allow the CPU to work with communication protocols in their element (if a common network packet is 68 bytes long, a word should be ½NP or 34 bytes in the I/O buffer.) It also means that you use no more CPU space than you absolutely need to for a computational step, decreasing wear and tear on your components.

    I guess what I'm getting at is that science fiction has nothing on practical interative design for real world technological improvement. Sure, we might get to the same place we read about 50 years ago, but not all in one step.

    --

    Try not. Do or do not, there is no try.
    -- Dr. Spock, stardate 2822-3.




    1. Re:The future is now. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      +5 You Made All That Shit Up Didn't You?

  3. I can see it working by Neil+Blender · · Score: 5, Funny

    But they might need to rephase the modulators and run in through some sort of tachion inverter feild.

  4. Sounds like.... by Valiss · · Score: 5, Funny

    Today, plasmons can only travel a few millimeters before dying, while today's chips are typically about a centimeter across.

    Well, in that case, it sounds similar to my research. See, if you jump, you can fly. Now currently, I can only fly a foot or two. Of course, most people want to fly longer distances, but it's a start.

    --

    -Valiss
  5. Re:To see the Roland Piquepaille problem by Neil+Blender · · Score: 5, Informative

    6 articles were submitted in the last month, NONE were rejected. If there were any Rejected articles, they would be displayed under a "Recent Submissions" section.

    Not true. You only see your own rejected submissions. Other people can only see your accepted submissions.

  6. The State of Roland's Mind . . . by StateOfTheUnion · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Today, we're using basically (Basically is my cop-out word so that anyone that actually knows this technology can't call me out for any errors) two ways to move data in our computers: transistors carry small amounts of data and are extremely small, while fiber optic cables can carry huge amounts of data, but are much bigger in size(Actually I used the word basically because I used a terrible analogy. Transistors are used for gates and switches. Optical fiber carries information. Perhaps I should have said electrical conductors versus optical fibers, but that wouldn't sound as impressive even though its a much better analogy. But I think that most /. readers are really stupid and won't see through my gobbldey-gook. I am actually French, so you can blame it on the fact that English is not my first language.). Now, imagine a single technology combining the advantages of photonics and electronics. This Stanford University report says a new technology can do it: plasmonics.(This technology is not really new. In fact its not a technology at all. Its actually a natural phonomena, but /. readers are too stupid to know the difference. Also, its not really new either. Its been known for at least a decade . . . at least thats what this link form 1996 implies) (For more about plasmons, read this Wikipedia article.) Theoretically, it is possible to design plasmonic components with the same materials used today by chipmakers, but with frequencies 100,000 times greater than the ones of current microprocessors. There is still a challenge to solve before getting plasmonic chips. Today, plasmons can only travel a few millimeters before dying, while today's chips are typically about a centimeter across. Actually the articles that are linked to in the topic say that heat, connectors and other issue have to be worked out first, but /. readers can't handle more than one concept at a time, so I'm going to dumb this down for them) Read this overview for more details and references about plasmonics, and to discover why it's one possible future for chips' circuitry. (shameless plug for my blog where I'm soliciting for "premium blogads" in the upper right side of the blog. But /. readers won't notice that I have a conflict of interest and I'm trying to launch a career as a blogger/ tehcnology writer)

    Come on Roland, give us a break . . . you obviously don't understand what your writing about. Your analogies make no sense, your summarize is full of gross holes and you're trying to "sex-up" plasmons by calling a natural phonomena a technology and saying that it's something "new" when it is not. And seems you're doing this to attract hits to your blog so that you can sell ad space.

    I know this post is harsh, but I have to say that it appears that you are attempting to exploit the /. community for your own personal financial gain. We /. readers aren't as gullible or stupid as you seem to think . . .