Transcript
Engineers
worldwide are busy developing alternative ways to provide greater memory
storage capacity on even smaller computer chips. Previous research into
two-dimensional atomic sheets for memory storage has failed to uncover their
potential - until now.
A team of
electrical engineers at The University of Texas at Austin, in collaboration
with Peking University scientists, has developed the thinnest memory storage
device with dense memory capacity, paving the way for faster, smaller and
smarter computer chips for everything from consumer electronics to big data to
brain-inspired computing.
For a
long time, the consensus was that it wasn't possible to make memory devices
from materials that were only one atomic layer thick. But with so-called 'atomristors,' the research has shown it is indeed possible.
Made from
2D nanomaterials, the "atomristors" improve upon memristors, an
emerging memory storage technology with lower memory scalability. The
team published their findings in the January issue of Nano Letters.
Atomristors
will allow for the advancement of Moore's Law at the system level by enabling
the 3D integration of nanoscale memory with nanoscale transistors on the same
chip for advanced computing systems.
Memory
storage and logic transistors have, to date, always been separate components on
a microchip, but atomristors combine both functions on a single, more efficient
computer system. By using metallic atomic sheets of graphene as
electrodes and semiconducting atomic sheets of molybdenum sulfide as the active
layer, the entire memory cell is a sandwich about 1.5 nanometers thick, which
makes it possible to densely pack atomristors layer-by-layer in a single plane.
This is a substantial advantage over conventional flash memory, which
occupies a far larger space. In addition, the thinness allows for faster and
more efficient electric current flow.
Given
their size, capacity and integration flexibility, atomristors can be packed
together to make advanced 3D chips that are crucial to the successful development
of brain-inspired computing. One of the greatest challenges in this
burgeoning field of engineering is how to make a memory architecture with 3D
connections akin to those found in the human brain.
The sheer
density of memory storage that can be made possible by layering these synthetic
atomic sheets onto each other, coupled with integrated transistor design, means
we can potentially make computers that learn and remember the same way our
brains do.
The
research team also discovered another unique application for the technology. In
existing ubiquitous devices such as smartphones and tablets, radio frequency
switches are used to connect incoming signals from the antenna to one of the
many wireless communication bands in order for different parts of a device to
communicate and cooperate with one another. This activity can
significantly affect a smartphone's battery life.
Since
atomristors are the smallest radio frequency memory switches to be demonstrated
with no DC battery consumption, this could ultimately lead to longer battery
life.
Overall,
this discovery appears to have real commercialization potential, and it won't
disrupt existing technologies. Rather, it has been designed to complement
and integrate with the silicon chips already in use in modern computing
devices.
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