ELE Times PDF 1 Nov 2016 | Page 42

Cover Story
- the place where a signal passes from one nerve cell to another
superconductor. Left: Actual measurement. Right: Illustration of
in the body. Memristive devices are electrical resistance switches
concept.
that can alter their resistance based on the history of applied voltage and current. These devices can store and process information and offer several key performance characteristics
New cost-effective silicon carbide high voltage switch created
that exceed conventional integrated circuit technology.
New 3-D wiring technique brings scalable quantum computers closer to reality
A new extensible wiring technique capable of controlling superconducting quantum bits has now been developed, representing a significant step towards to the realization of a scalable quantum computer.
ELE Times | 42 | November, 2016
Researchers have created a high voltage and high frequency silicon carbide( SiC) power switch that could cost much less than similarly rated SiC power switches. The findings could lead to early applications in the power industry, especially in power converters like medium voltage drives, solid state transformers and high voltage transmissions and circuit breakers.
Wide bandgap semiconductors, such as SiC, show tremendous potential for use in medium- and high-voltage power devices because of their capability to work more efficiently at higher voltages. Currently though, their high cost impedes their widespread adoption over the prevailing workhorse and industry standard-- insulated-gate bipolar transistors( IGBT) made from silicon-- which generally work well but incur large energy losses when they are turned on and off.
Electrons in graphene behave like light, only better
Electrical and computer engineers have directly observed- for the first time- negative refraction for electrons passing across a boundary between two regions in a conducting material. The
The quantum socket is a wiring method that uses threedimensional
wires based on spring-loaded pins to address
individual qubits. The technique connects classical electronics
researchers were able to observe the effect in graphene,
with quantum circuits, and is extendable far beyond current
demonstrating that electrons in the atomically thin material
limits, from one to possibly a few thousand qubits.
behave like light rays, which can be manipulated by such optical
Physicists pass spin information through a
devices as lenses and prisms. The findings could lead to the
superconductor
Every electronic device- from a supercomputer to a dishwasher- works by controlling the flow of charged electrons. But electrons can carry so much more information than just charge; electrons also spin, like a gyroscope on axis.
Harnessing electron spin is really exciting for quantum information processing because not only can an electron spin up or down-one or zero-but it can also spin any direction between
development of new types of electron switches, based on the principles of optics rather than electronics.
The ability to manipulate electrons in a conducting material like light rays opens up entirely new ways of thinking about electronics. The switches that make up computer chips operate by turning the entire device on or off, and this consumes significant power.
2-D boron may be best for flexible electronics
the two poles. Because it follows the rules of quantum
Though they ' re touted as ideal for electronics, two-dimensional
mechanics, an electron can occupy all of those positions at once.
materials like graphene may be too flat and hard to stretch to
Imagine the power of a computer that could calculate all of those
serve in flexible, wearable devices. " Wavy " borophene might be
positions simultaneously.
better.
A whole field of applied physics, called spintronics, focuses on
When grown on silver, the two-dimensional form of boron, which
how to harness and measure electron spin and build spin
is called borophene, takes on corrugations. The metallic material
equivalents of electronic gates and circuits.
may be suitable for use in stretchable, bendable electronics.
Bioengineers ' sweat sensor monitors glucose
The scientists observed examples of naturally undulating, metallic
Researchers are sweating the small stuff in their efforts to develop a wearable device that can monitor an individual ' s glucose level via perspiration on the skin. They have
borophene, an atom-thick layer of boron, and suggested that transferring it onto an elastic surface would preserve the material ' s stretchability along with its useful electronic properties.
demonstrated the capabilities of a biosensor they designed to
Ultra-thin ferroelectric material for next-generation
reliably detect and quantify glucose in human sweat.
electronics
Melting of frozen electrons visualized
Ferroelectric materials can switch between different states of
It allows electrons to move freely and turns the insulator into a
electrical polarization in response to an external electric field. This
metal and possibly later into a superconductor.
flexibility means they show promise for many applications, for
The melting of electrons. In the blue areas, the electrons( red dots) are stuck to the atoms in the lattice( green circles), meaning that there is no current. In the red areas, dopant atoms( black circles) are added, giving the electrons room to move and making them behave like a liquid. The researchers expect that once the whole area is molten, the material is a high-temperature
example in electronic devices and computer memory. Current ferroelectric materials are highly valued for their thermal and chemical stability and rapid electro-mechanical responses, but creating a material that is scalable down to the tiny sizes needed for technologies like silicon-based semiconductors( Si-based
CMOS) has proven challenging.