Electronics news and discussion thread

weatheriscool
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Researchers develop new germanium-tin transistor as alternative to silicon
https://techxplore.com/news/2023-04-ger ... licon.html
by Forschungszentrum Juelich
Scientists at Forschungszentrum Jülich have fabricated a new type of transistor from a germanium–tin alloy that has several advantages over conventional switching elements. Charge carriers can move faster in the material than in silicon or germanium, which enables lower voltages in operation. The transistor thus appears to be a promising candidate for future low-power, high-performance chips, and possibly also for the development of future of quantum computers.

Over the past 70 years, the number of transistors on a chip has doubled approximately every two years—according to Moore's Law, which is still valid today. The circuits have become correspondingly smaller, but an end to this development appears to be in sight.

"We have now reached a stage where structures are only 2 to 3 nanometers in size. This is approximately equal to the diameter of 10 atoms, which takes us to the limits of what is feasible. It doesn't get much smaller than this," says Qing-Tai Zhao of the Peter Grünberg Institute (PGI-9) at Forschungszentrum Jülich.
weatheriscool
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Re: Electronics news and discussion thread

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New skyrmion transistors propel quantum and AI research
https://phys.org/news/2023-05-skyrmion- ... um-ai.html
by National Research Council of Science & Technology
In an era marked by an escalating energy crisis, the world stands on the precipice of a transformative revolution in spintronics technology, promising ultra-low power consumption paired with superior performance. To illustrate the potential, consider this: the power consumed by AlphaGo during its famous Go game in 2016 equaled the daily power use of 100 households. By 2021, Tesla's autonomous driving AI required over ten times that amount of power for learning.

In response to this growing demand, the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) has pioneered the world's first transistor capable of controlling skyrmions. This breakthrough paves the way for the development of next-generation ultra-low-power devices and is anticipated to make significant contributions to quantum and AI research. The findings are published in the journal Advanced Materials.
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Re: Electronics news and discussion thread

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Study demonstrates the potential of ferroelectric hafnia for developing low-power logic devices
https://techxplore.com/news/2023-05-pot ... logic.html
by Ingrid Fadelli , Tech Xplore
Transistors, semiconducting devices that regulate, amplify and generate the flow of electrical current, are central components of most electronics. Electronics engineers have been trying to develop increasingly smaller transistors, as this could support the fabrication of more compact devices.

Shrinking transistors, however, can adversely impact their energy consumption, as certain challenges can arise, such as short-channel effects and the leakage of current caused by a quantum mechanical phenomenon known as quantum tunneling. The energy consumption of smaller transistors could potentially be decreased by leveraging the negative differential capacitance (NDC) of ferroelectric materials.

NDC is a phenomenon that occurs in ferroelectrics, where a change in charge causes the net voltage across a material to shift to the opposite direction, so that an increase in charge prompts a decrease in voltage. One ferroelectric material that could be used to realize this is ferroelectric hafnium dioxide (HfO2) or hafnia.
weatheriscool
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Re: Electronics news and discussion thread

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A new approach to realize parallel in-memory wireless computing
https://techxplore.com/news/2023-05-app ... eless.html
by Ingrid Fadelli , Tech Xplore
Advanced communication technologies, such as the fifth generation (5G) mobile network and the internet of things (IoT) can greatly benefit from devices that can support wireless communications while consuming a minimum amount of power. As most existing devices have separate components to perform computations and transmit data, reducing their energy consumption can be challenging.

Researchers at Nanjing University, Southeast University and Purple Mountain Laboratories in China recently devised a parallel in-memory wireless computing scheme that performs computations and wireless transmission concurrently on the same hardware. This design, introduced in Nature Electronics, is based on the use of mermristive crossbar arrays, grid-like structures containing memristors, electrical components that can both process and store data.
weatheriscool
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Re: Electronics news and discussion thread

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An organic electrochemical transistor that serves as a sensor and processor
https://techxplore.com/news/2023-05-ele ... essor.html
by Ingrid Fadelli , Tech Xplore

In recent years, electronics engineers have been trying to develop new brain-inspired hardware that can run artificial intelligence (AI) models more efficiently. While most existing hardware is specialized in either sensing, processing or storing data, some teams have been exploring the possibility of combining these three functionalities in a single device.

Researchers at Xi'an Jiaotong University, the University of Hong Kong and Xi'an University of Science and Technology introduced a new organic transistor that can act as a sensor and processor. This transistor, introduced in a paper published in Nature Electronics, is based on a vertical traverse architecture and a crystalline-amorphous channel that can be selectively doped by ions, allowing it to switch between two reconfigurable modes.
weatheriscool
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A conductive self-healing hydrogel to create flexible sensors
https://phys.org/news/2023-06-self-heal ... nsors.html
by Ingrid Fadelli , Phys.org

Recent advancements in the field of electronics have enabled the creation of smaller and increasingly sophisticated devices, including wearable technologies, biosensors, medical implants, and soft robots. Most of these technologies are based on stretchy materials with electronic properties.

While material scientists have already introduced a wide range of flexible materials that could be used to create electronics, many of these materials are fragile and can be easily damaged. As damage to materials can result in their failure, while also compromising the overall functioning of the system they are integrated in, several existing soft and conductive materials can end up being unreliable and unsuitable for large-scale implementations.

Researchers at Harbin University of Science and Technology in China recently developed a new conductive and self-healing hydrogel that could be used to create flexible sensors for wearables, robots or other devices. This material and its composition was outlined in the Journal of Science: Advanced Materials and Devices.
Tadasuke
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GDDR6 price trend

Post by Tadasuke »

Image

source: DRAMeXchange
Reddit link

My question is: why don't new graphics cards have more VRAM?
Last edited by Tadasuke on Thu Jun 08, 2023 9:11 am, edited 1 time in total.
Global economy doubles in product every 15-20 years. Computer performance at a constant price doubles nowadays every 4 years on average. Livestock-as-food will globally stop being a thing by ~2050 (precision fermentation and more). Human stupidity, pride and depravity are the biggest problems of our world.
Tadasuke
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New data transmission record - 1.8 petabits/s

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New data transmission record

Using only a single light source, scientists have set a world record by transmitting 1.8 petabits per second. Their data transmission method uses significantly less power and can help reduce the Internet’s climate footprint.

An international group of researchers from Technical University of Denmark (DTU) and Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden have achieved dizzying data transmission speeds and are the first in the world to transmit more than 1 petabit per second (Pbit/s) using only a single laser and a single optical chip.

In the experiment, the researchers succeeded in transmitting 1.8 Pbit/s, which corresponds to twice the total global Internet traffic. And only carried by the light from one optical source. The light source is a custom-designed optical chip, which can use the light from a single infrared laser to create a rainbow spectrum of many colours, i.e. many frequencies. Thus, the one frequency (colour) of a single laser can be multiplied into hundreds of frequencies (colours) in a single chip.

All the colours are fixed at a specific frequency distance from each other - just like the teeth on a comb - which is why it is called a frequency comb. Each colour (or frequency) can then be isolated and used to imprint data. The frequencies can then be reassembled and sent over an optical fibre, thus transmitting data. Even a huge volume of data, as the researchers have discovered.

(...)

The researchers’ solution bodes well for the future power consumption of the Internet.

“In other words, our solution provides a potential for replacing hundreds of thousands of the lasers located at Internet hubs and data centres, all of which guzzle power and generate heat. We have an opportunity to contribute to achieving an Internet that leaves a smaller climate footprint,” says Leif Katsuo Oxenløwe.

Even though the researchers have broken the petabit barrier for a single laser source and a single chip in their demonstration, there is still some development work ahead before the solution can be implemented in our current communication systems, according to Leif Katsuo Oxenløwe.

“All over the world, work is being done to integrate the laser source in the optical chip, and we’re working on that as well. The more components we can integrate in the chip, the more efficient the whole transmitter will be. I.e. laser, comb-creating chip, data modulators, and any amplifier elements. It will be an extremely efficient optical transmitter of data signals,” says Leif Katsuo Oxenløwe.
source: https://www.dtu.dk/english/news/all-new ... 5d74dd3f02
Global economy doubles in product every 15-20 years. Computer performance at a constant price doubles nowadays every 4 years on average. Livestock-as-food will globally stop being a thing by ~2050 (precision fermentation and more). Human stupidity, pride and depravity are the biggest problems of our world.
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caltrek
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Re: Electronics news and discussion thread

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The Materials of Future Transistors
July 11, 2023

Introduction:
(Eurekalert) Recent research at the Technion lays the ground for future high-performance alternatives to silicon in microelectronics. By stretching an oxide material at an atomic level, the researchers are able to control its conductivity, a milestone advancement towards making efficient switches, which are the basic building blocks of computer chips.

Researchers in the Andrew and Erna Viterbi Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering have demonstrated control over an emerging material, which they consider as a possible future alternative to silicon in microelectronics. This is a timely development, because scientists and engineers face challenges in continuing the transistor shrinking trend, an important driver of computer chip performance.
Read more here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/995167

For a technical discussion of the subject research: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10 ... m.2023023
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weatheriscool
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Re: Electronics news and discussion thread

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California Governor Signs Right to Repair Act Into Law
Device and appliance manufacturers will now have to make tools, parts, software, and documentation publicly accessible on or before July 1, 2024.
By Adrianna Nine October 12, 2023
https://www.extremetech.com/electronics ... t-into-law
California has officially adopted a major right-to-repair bill into law. SB 244, the Right to Repair Act, will require most electronics and appliance manufacturers to enable self-repair through extensive documentation and parts offerings. Senators Susan Eggman, Bill Dodd, and Nancy Skinner introduced SB 244 on Jan. 25 following a national movement to promote self-repair. The text went through a few amendments before passing the California Senate 38-0 in May, then the California State Assembly 50-0 in September. After that, the bill floated up to Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk. On Tuesday, Newsom signed SB 244 into law.
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