Just as compact discs all but wiped out vinyl records,
semiconductors could be on their way out, too.
A University
of Houston professor has developed a similar
‘disruptive technology,’ using magnetic cellular
networks, that could yield such benefits as increased computing power
that rivals what is possible with semiconductor integrated circuits.
Integrated circuits, which are a microscopic array of
electronic circuits and components that have been implanted on the
surface of a single chip of semiconducting material, have become the
principal components of almost all electronic devices. Compared to the
vacuum tubes and transistors that preceded them, integrated circuits
have provided a low-cost, highly reliable way for computers to respond
to a wider range of input and produce a wider range of output.
Dmitri Litvinov, associate professor of electrical and
computer engineering and of chemical and biomolecular engineering in
the Cullen College of Engineering at UH, is working with specially
arranged assemblies of nanomagnets, or magnetic cellular networks, to
replace conventional circuitry and significantly improve computing
operations. His research involves a system of interacting magnetic
nanocells that could combine logic, random access memory and data
storage in a single nanomagnetic computing system.
Working from logic gates, which are at the heart of a
computer’s ability to add, subtract, multiply and divide,
Litvinov wants to demonstrate that the magnetization of adjacent
magnets is possible and can be used to perform specific logic and
computing operations, reversing the repulsive and attractive poles of
magnets.
“The significance is potentially ultra-high density
of magnetic computing components for significantly higher computing
power beyond what is expected to be achievable with semiconductor
integrated circuits,” said Litvinov, who also is the director
of the Center for Nanomagnetic Systems at UH. “Additional
benefits include potential integration with magnetic random access
memory that would result in all-magnetic computing, as well as extreme
robustness, or resilience, against radiation that could be critical for
space missions or military applications.”
Funded by a $360,000 grant from the National Science
Foundation’s Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison with
Industry (GOALI) initiative, Litvinov, the principal investigator on
this project, is working with co-PI Sakhrat Khizroev of the University
of California-Riverside. The two have successfully implemented a number
of nanomagnetic concepts and rapid prototyping approaches in commercial
magnetic data storage systems, many of which are directly applicable to
this project. Also involved in this research is co-PI Song Xue of
Seagate Technology, a major American manufacturer of hard drives and
the largest magnetic information technology company in the world. Xue
is strategically positioned to deliver key technology components, such
as access to advanced device fabrication, to facilitate this research
and bring industrial insight to the project.
GOALI is a program that connects universities and industry for
mutual benefit, reflecting the NSF’s objective to improve the
nation’s capacity for intellectual and economic growth.
Launched in 1993 and expanded in 1996 to include all NSF directorates,
GOALI aims to improve productivity and enhance competitiveness. By the
NSF serving as a catalyst for industry-university partnerships through
this type of grant, it helps bring together intellectual capital and
emerging technologies to improve quality of life, making funds
available to support an eclectic mix of academic and commercial
linkages.
“The long-term potential of developing integrated
magnetic computing systems such as ours could foster a significant
advance in information processing that rivals not just superconductors,
but also the integrated circuit revolution of the past half
century,” Litvinov said. “It’s an ideal
fit with the NSF’s GOALI initiative, since this program only
funds projects with demonstrated interest from industry and seeks out
projects such as ours with a potentially profound impact on the
world’s economic, political and social systems.”
Posted 30 August 2007
