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Researchers Spin Out Smaller Electronics Than Ever

Posted by Zonk on from the can-i-borrow-your-illustrated-primer dept.

schliz writes "Scientists have found a more efficient way to harness the spin of an electron to store and process information. The new technology, dubbed 'spintronics', has potentials in the development of nanoscale devices that are much more energy efficient than current charge-based electronic devices. Researchers expect the new technology to be incorporated in computing circuitry within the next decade."

3 of 45 comments (clear)

  1. Fundamentals... by BrianKHud · · Score: 4, Insightful
    To save you the time -

    Here's one I haven't heard before?

    ...Current day electronics are predominantly charge-based; that is, electrons are given more or less electric charge...

    Millikan says otherwise if I recall...

    Another strong point. . .

    ...does not require any physical movement of the electron and is achieved simply by changing its orientation


    Last I checked, only politicians could change orientation without physically moving. . .

    Currently, spintronics-based memory chips are being used in memory marketed by Texas-based Freescale Semiconductors, as well as data retrieval devices like those in Apple's iPods. The technology has not yet been incorporated in computing circuitry in any major way;


    Sorry, now I just have to ask who reviewed this article for sanity...
    --
    He who controls the past, commands the future... He who controls the future conquers the past.
  2. Re:Quantum Computer by bh_doc · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Not really. This is just a different representation of the same information, like voltage in electronics, lans and pits on CDs, punched holes in paper (which I'm too young to know much about). These guys are just using an electron's spin: +z to represent 1 and -z to represent 0 (or something along those lines, the actual definition is irrelevant).

    Quantum computing, on the other hand, uses all values in between. Including complex ones. Quantum computing is not binary, but (for certain protocols) can only be measured in binary states. So you're quantum computer can process these complex values (which could well be encoded in electron spin - it is a quantum mechanical property after all) in really tricky ways, just so long as you don't measure intermediate results (that would destroy the coherence - think of it a bit like a quantum computer's Oops). This is what affords quantum computers such massive advantages at certain problems, like searching and factorising.

  3. Re:Thermal Relaxation by Rich0 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Well, I guess you could use a refresh system combined with ECC.

    I hadn't thought of this before, but the problem with spin is that it is a truly digital attribute. With dynamic RAM the capacitors that make it up are either more than half full, or less than half full. So, intermediate states can be refreshed to the endpoint states to keep the memory intact. With spin you're at one state and instantly flip to the other, so the only way to know that this has happened is to store redundant information and then refresh bits by making them line up with the majority. It will certainly waste quite a bit of space, but if you can store one bit per electron you'll have lots of room to do so...