How new technologies can redefine the efficiency of computing.
Scientists from Japan and Switzerland have taken an important step towards creating a new generation of analog computers by developing new types of logic gates based on spin waves. Spin waves occur when all the electrons in a system simultaneously change the orientation of their spins in the same direction.
Taichi Goto, an associate professor at Tohok University's Telecommunications Research Institute and co-author of the study, notes that spin waves, which have a wavelength of about 100 nanometers, offer an alternative view of analog computing that is more consistent with the predominantly electronic world of digital computers. Unlike optical analog computers, which can be cumbersome and vulnerable due to imperfections in optical components, spin-wave technology can be more affordable and requires no cooling, which significantly reduces the cost of operating it.
Researchers have developed a new type of waveguide for the logic elements of an analog computer based on spin waves, using magnonics rather than optics to control these waves. This approach, according to Goto, allows you to work at room temperature without the need for additional cooling systems, which makes it more economical in comparison with other wave technologies.
To create the waveguide, the researchers used yttrium garnet (Y3Fe5O12, YIG) processing to produce rod-shaped shapes, and then added a two-dimensional copper hexagonal lattice layer to the YIG substrate, which increases internal reflection and reduces losses in the waveguide.
Spin waves in the device are generated by an antenna directly placed on an insulating substrate, and a two-dimensional copper layer reflects and directs these waves. The size and structure of the antenna allow you to easily change the wavelength of spin waves, which provides control over properties such as interference, refraction, diffraction and localization of waves.
The researchers plan to further improve methods for manufacturing a two-dimensional copper-coated material to create and refine logic gates. Goto is confident that the unique features of spin-wave-based chips will open up new, though still limited, markets.
The work was published this month in the journal Physical Review Applied.
Scientists from Japan and Switzerland have taken an important step towards creating a new generation of analog computers by developing new types of logic gates based on spin waves. Spin waves occur when all the electrons in a system simultaneously change the orientation of their spins in the same direction.
Taichi Goto, an associate professor at Tohok University's Telecommunications Research Institute and co-author of the study, notes that spin waves, which have a wavelength of about 100 nanometers, offer an alternative view of analog computing that is more consistent with the predominantly electronic world of digital computers. Unlike optical analog computers, which can be cumbersome and vulnerable due to imperfections in optical components, spin-wave technology can be more affordable and requires no cooling, which significantly reduces the cost of operating it.
Researchers have developed a new type of waveguide for the logic elements of an analog computer based on spin waves, using magnonics rather than optics to control these waves. This approach, according to Goto, allows you to work at room temperature without the need for additional cooling systems, which makes it more economical in comparison with other wave technologies.
To create the waveguide, the researchers used yttrium garnet (Y3Fe5O12, YIG) processing to produce rod-shaped shapes, and then added a two-dimensional copper hexagonal lattice layer to the YIG substrate, which increases internal reflection and reduces losses in the waveguide.
Spin waves in the device are generated by an antenna directly placed on an insulating substrate, and a two-dimensional copper layer reflects and directs these waves. The size and structure of the antenna allow you to easily change the wavelength of spin waves, which provides control over properties such as interference, refraction, diffraction and localization of waves.
The researchers plan to further improve methods for manufacturing a two-dimensional copper-coated material to create and refine logic gates. Goto is confident that the unique features of spin-wave-based chips will open up new, though still limited, markets.
The work was published this month in the journal Physical Review Applied.
