12/11/2018
While computers have come a long way since the early days of machines like the Commodore 64 in terms of memory and performance, researchers are constantly seeking ways to improve aspects of the technology. Now, researchers at Georgia State University (GSU) have made what they think is a key breakthrough involving materials called transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs). Specifically, they discovered that TMDCs possess optical properties that could make computers run at unprecedented memory speeds and energy efficiency, they said in a GSU news release.
computer materials
A graphic shows the unique movements of electrons and protons in the hexagonal lattice structure of materials called transition metal dichalcogenides, which researchers at Georgia State University have discovered can dramatically improve computer speeds and memory. (Image source: Georgia State University)
A Million Times Faster
The materials—which are atomically thin semiconductors—could make computers run on the femtosecond time scale, or a million times faster than they do now, researchers said.
Sponsored Content Brought to you by Digi-Key
Securing IoT Devices Using arm TrustZone
In this course, we will examine how developers can start to secure their embedded systems using arm TrustZone for microcontrollers.
Indeed, optics is the way forward for improving computer speeds and efficiency at orders of magnitude that are much faster than current technology, said Mark Stockman, director of the Center for Nano-Optics and a Regents’ professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Georgia State. “There is nothing faster, except light,” he said in the release. “The only way to build much faster computers is to use optics, not electronics.”
Using optical materials like TMDCs, however, means the current thought behind improving computer speeds—taking an electronic approach by boosting the number of processors—must be put aside, Stockman said. “Electronics, which is used by current computers, can’t go any faster, which is why engineers have been increasing the number of processors,” he explained. “We propose the TMDCs to make computers a million times more efficient. This is a fundamentally different approach to information technology.”
