Lifeboat Foundation

A team of engineers, physicists and quantum specialists at Google Research has found that reducing noise to a certain level allows the company’s sycamore quantum chip to beat classical computers running random circuit sampling (RCS).

The solutions to these long-standing problems could further enhance our understanding of symmetries of structures and objects in nature and science, and of long-term behavior of various random processes arising in fields ranging from chemistry and physics to engineering, computer science and economics.

A Rutgers University-New Brunswick professor who has devoted his career to resolving the mysteries of higher mathematics has solved two separate, fundamental problems that have perplexed mathematicians for decades.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s new RODAS technology provides detailed insights into atomic changes in materials, critical for advancing quantum computing.

The method’s ability to analyze materials like molybdenum disulfide without damaging them marks a significant improvement over traditional techniques, offering potential breakthroughs in material science.

A team of researchers led by the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has developed a novel method for observing changes in materials at the atomic level. This technique opens new avenues for advancing our understanding and development of materials critical for quantum computing and electronics.

Researchers have developed a novel graphene-germanium hot-emitter transistor using a new hot carrier generation mechanism, achieving unprecedented performance. This advancement opens new possibilities for low-power, high-performance multifunctional devices.

Transistors, the fundamental components of integrated circuits, encounter increasing difficulties as their size continues to shrink. To boost circuit performance, it has become essential to develop transistors that operate on innovative principles. Hot carrier transistors, which harness the extra kinetic energy of charge carriers, offer the potential to enhance transistor speed and functionality. However, their effectiveness has been constrained by conventional methods of generating hot carriers.

A team of researchers led by Prof. Chi Liu, Prof. Dongming Sun, and Prof. Huiming Cheng from the Institute of Metal Research (IMR) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has proposed a novel hot carrier generation mechanism called “stimulated emission of heated carriers (SEHC).” The team has also developed an innovative hot-emitter transistor (HOET), achieving an ultralow sub-threshold swing of less than 1 mV/dec and a peak-to-valley current ratio exceeding 100. The study provides a prototype of a low-power, multifunctional device for the post-Moore era.

University of Illinois researchers have innovated in molecular electronics by creating stable, shape-persistent molecules with controlled conductance, using a new synthesis method, paving the way for more reliable miniaturized electronic devices.

As electronic devices keep shrinking, physical size limitations are starting to hinder the trend of doubling transistor density on silicon-based microchips every two years, as predicted by Moore’s law. Molecular electronics, which involves using single molecules as the fundamental components of electronic devices, presents a promising avenue for further miniaturizing small-scale electronics.

Devices that utilize molecular electronics require precise control over the flow of electrical current. However, the dynamic nature of these single molecule components affects device performance and impacts reproducibility.

Brookhaven National Laboratory researchers are working to develop ways to synchronize the magnetic spins in nanoscale devices to build tiny signal-generating or receiving antennas and other electronics.

Upton, New York — Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory are seeking ways to synchronize the magnetic spins in nanoscale devices to build tiny yet more powerful signal-generating or receiving antennas and other electronics. Their latest work, published in Nature Communications, shows that stacked nanoscale magnetic vortices separated by an extremely thin layer of copper can be driven to operate in unison, potentially producing a powerful signal that could be put to work in a new generation of cell phones, computers, and other applications.

The aim of this “spintronic” technology revolution is to harness the power of an electron’s “spin,” the property responsible for magnetism, rather than its negative charge.

A new study from researchers at Tyndall National Institute and the National University of Singapore shows that subtle changes in the intermolecular van der Waals interactions in the active component of a molecular diode can improve the device performance by more than a factor of ten.

A team of scientists from Tyndall National Institute at University College Cork and the National University of Singapore have designed and fabricated ultra-small devices for energy-efficient electronics. By finding out how molecules behave in these devices, a ten-fold increase in switching efficiency was obtained by changing just one carbon atom. These devices could provide new ways to combat overheating in mobile phones and laptops, and could also aid in electrical stimulation of tissue repair for wound healing. The breakthrough creation of molecular devices with highly controllable electrical properties will appear in the February issue of Nature Nanotechnology. Dr. Damien Thompson at the Tyndall National Institute, UCC and a team of researchers at the National University of Singapore led by Prof. Chris Nijhuis designed and created the devices, which are based on molecules acting as electrical valves, or diode rectifiers.

Dr. Thompson explains “These molecules are very useful because they allow current to flow through them when switched ON and block current flow when switched OFF. The results of the study show that simply adding one extra carbon is sufficient to improve the device performance by more than a factor of ten. We are following up lots of new ideas based on these results, and we hope ultimately to create a range of new components for electronic devices.” Dr. Thompson’s atom-level computer simulations showed how molecules with an odd number of carbon atoms stand straighter than molecules with an even number of carbon atoms. This allows them to pack together more closely. Tightly-packed assemblies of these molecules were formed on metal electrode surfaces by the Nijhuis group in Singapore and were found to be remarkably free of defects. These high quality devices can suppress leakage currents and so operate efficiently and reliably.

Researchers from NC State and Johns Hopkins have developed a breakthrough technology that leverages DNA for data storage and computing, offering capabilities such as storing, retrieving, computing, and rewriting data.

This technology is made viable by innovative polymer structures called dendricolloids, enhancing data density and preservation. It enables functions similar to electronic devices and could potentially secure data for millennia, providing a promising foundation for the future of molecular computing.

DNA Data Storage and Computing.

Manchester, England— On a rare sunny day in northern England, the National Graphene Institute (NGI) here gleams like a five-story block of obsidian. Squeezed into the University of Manchester’s sprawling downtown campus, the research center is clad in almost 2000 lustrous black panels with small hexagonal perforations—an architectural nod to the structure of the atom-thin sheet of carbon that gives the building its name.

NGI exists because graphene was first isolated a short walk away in a University of Manchester lab. Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov presented it to the world 20 years ago this month and later won a Nobel Prize for the work. Since its unveiling, billions of dollars of R&D funding have flowed to graphene, in a global race to exploit its peerless properties. It is better at carrying electricity than any metal, a superb heat conductor, and hundreds of times stronger than steel—selling points trumpeted in the marketing materials of universities and companies alike.

Early on, researchers were not shy about promising graphene breakthroughs, with predictions that it would enable superthin rollable TVs and space elevators, and even supplant silicon in computer chips. “Expectations were very, very high,” Geim says. “The companies I was involved in were mostly based on hype.”