Quantum Computing: Data storage and transistors on the nanoscale.
By: Michael R. Buhler
Wesley Sanders
ENGR 1050-003
November/8/2013
For centuries humankind has been unaware of many important yet unconscious advances using microscopic materials. It has been used for the purpose of dying lips and other applications in cosmetics, as well as inserting metallic pigments into stained glass windows to produce the many bright, vivid colors in them. By mixing silver and gold to produce dichromic goblets, or adding carbon to iron weapons and tools to increase durability have all been examples of the brilliant but subconscious use of nanotechnology through the ages.
These methods of manipulating nanomaterials are hundreds to thousands of years old, and since that time humankind has continued its ability to perceive, understand, and manipulate microscopic materials, and all for the same purpose of improving the quality of life.
Unlike those in earlier ages, we are far more aware of the microscopic world. With powerful microscopes, specialists are able to see the inner-workings of elements coming together and producing previously unknown effects, and in this new frontier of discovery countless avenues of scientific progress have been unlocked.
In 1959 Richard Feynman predicted that eventually we would be able to manipulate single atoms, which by 2013 has been proven time and time again. In a world where nanotechnology is the means to create more productive solar cells, and hydrophobic spray paint, they are the very tip of the iceberg when it comes to the possibilities production on the nanoscale can achieve.
What makes building on the nanoscale so potent is that the building materials are the same elements that everyone and everything are composed of. As well as creating smaller computers and more conductive, power-saving electrical travel systems, nanotechnology could be the key to winning the fight against cancer, and some speculate, even augment biological lifeforms in ways we may have never before comprehended.
Though these theories are merely speculation concerning potential, it does set the groundwork for what has been achieved, and what others are currently trying to achieve in this field. One particularly promising avenue is in the realm of Quantum Computing. Which is the concept of a single atom performing the task of a hard drive, or electrical transistor. Which dramatically reduces the size and electrical use of such a device, which would save the world energy, and allow more ascetically pleasing negative space in homes, and far smaller computing devices in all areas.
But first, a brief history. In 1989 IBM's Don Eigler became the first person to move and control a single atom. Using Xenon atoms he was able to spell out the letters IBM, which garnered a lot of publicity for IBM, but in function served no other purpose than to serve as a demonstration at what could be done.
After manipulating the atom understanding concerning it has grown and we are currently looking at an increased interest in atoms becoming data storage units.
Such data storage units fall into the category of Quantum Computing. A brief definition of this would be a computer different from those that use digital transistors and function using superposition and entanglement.
Gregory Goth's 2012 thesis “Atomic-Level Computing,” looks at the research of the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and the computing company IBM and focuses on topics such as atomic storage, antiferromagnets, and single-atom transistors. Which would greatly reduce the size of modern day data storage devices to an atomic scale.
The differences laid out in this thesis is between classical and quantum computers. Where a classical, or digital computer uses a value of either 1 or a 0, a quantum computer does not. It may express that value as either 1 or 0, or express each simultaneously. This is significant and offers many possibilities for the future.
UNSW researchers built a single atom transistor “Which scaled an antiferromagnetic storage array 100 times denser than current state-of-the-art technology, demonstrates the boundary between the two is narrowing to the extent that even describing how the principles of one may affect the other, and how quickly scientific discovery may become more viable applied research, are taking on a decidedly amorphous or even “quantum” nature.” Goth explains.
In regards to this, Gabriel Lansbergen, a principle engineer at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, noted that in their own way similar to conventional transistors in that the current in the source and drain can be controlled by applying voltage to the gate electrodes. Though when the gate voltage isn't high enough the single-atom transistor behaves as a small quantum dot.
Another key concept to all of this lies with magnets and their integral part in this whole process. In this data-storage form, magnets are placed around the atom and spin in accordance with electrical stimuli. These spinning magnets allow the atom to act as a transistor which sends a series of readable signals stored on the atom. Much like a laser reading a disc, or a pin tracing the grooves of a record, the electronic connection the magnets share with the atom are the same means of data delivery you would see in similar device.
In similitude to classical computing, antiferromagnets need spin much like that of a traditional hard drive in order to function as a data storage device. Though the difficulty in working on such a small scale is that the antiferromagnets align and cancel out any magnetic movement.
The solution however is finding out how many atoms it takes before quantum mechanics can be ignored. When it comes to temperature change the atoms also exhibit change and instability. While a single atom data apparatus might function properly at colder temperatures, -270 Celsius, room temperature caused destabilization. Though IBM researchers believe that a structure of 150 atoms could work in maintaining functionality at room temperature. This spacing would allow magnetic forces to influence the atom free of interference from alignment with one another.
The end result of a fully functional version of such a device can theoretically have enough data storage space to contain all of the movies in the world, in a single atom. As astounding as this is, it is even more astounding to learn that such a device could use very small amounts of energy to function in comparison to classic technology.
In regards to this topic change, N. Kovanova, and J.Windelen discuss this topic at length in their article titled “Minimal energy control of a nanoelectromechanical memory element.”
Here they discuss the minimal energy control when switching energy in a nanoelectromechanical memory system. Using the Pontryagin minimal energy approach, two experimental pulse type signals were used and produced a rewarding effect when in regards to power consumption.
Dealing with the scale of a single-atom data source on such a small scale of energy distribution would be infantile in comparison to the hard drives and data storage devices currently in use. With their rapid course of development and integration into daily use, these advancements in nanotechnology will entirely reshape all aspects of daily life. Permanently affecting science, entertainment, and culture. Personal computers, mp3 players, cameras, phones, and gaming devices could easily be rolled into one omnia platform and could arguably be the size of a button, and that size only because anything smaller being entrusted to clumsy human fingers would inevitably get lost.
As much as I do not understand about the technical details of this new science, it is apparent, even to a novice such as I, that groundbreaking advances are being made in this field that make it very apparent that if a human mind can imagine something it is possible to achieve it through further discovery.
Sources
By: Michael R. Buhler
Wesley Sanders
ENGR 1050-003
November/8/2013
For centuries humankind has been unaware of many important yet unconscious advances using microscopic materials. It has been used for the purpose of dying lips and other applications in cosmetics, as well as inserting metallic pigments into stained glass windows to produce the many bright, vivid colors in them. By mixing silver and gold to produce dichromic goblets, or adding carbon to iron weapons and tools to increase durability have all been examples of the brilliant but subconscious use of nanotechnology through the ages.
These methods of manipulating nanomaterials are hundreds to thousands of years old, and since that time humankind has continued its ability to perceive, understand, and manipulate microscopic materials, and all for the same purpose of improving the quality of life.
Unlike those in earlier ages, we are far more aware of the microscopic world. With powerful microscopes, specialists are able to see the inner-workings of elements coming together and producing previously unknown effects, and in this new frontier of discovery countless avenues of scientific progress have been unlocked.
In 1959 Richard Feynman predicted that eventually we would be able to manipulate single atoms, which by 2013 has been proven time and time again. In a world where nanotechnology is the means to create more productive solar cells, and hydrophobic spray paint, they are the very tip of the iceberg when it comes to the possibilities production on the nanoscale can achieve.
What makes building on the nanoscale so potent is that the building materials are the same elements that everyone and everything are composed of. As well as creating smaller computers and more conductive, power-saving electrical travel systems, nanotechnology could be the key to winning the fight against cancer, and some speculate, even augment biological lifeforms in ways we may have never before comprehended.
Though these theories are merely speculation concerning potential, it does set the groundwork for what has been achieved, and what others are currently trying to achieve in this field. One particularly promising avenue is in the realm of Quantum Computing. Which is the concept of a single atom performing the task of a hard drive, or electrical transistor. Which dramatically reduces the size and electrical use of such a device, which would save the world energy, and allow more ascetically pleasing negative space in homes, and far smaller computing devices in all areas.
But first, a brief history. In 1989 IBM's Don Eigler became the first person to move and control a single atom. Using Xenon atoms he was able to spell out the letters IBM, which garnered a lot of publicity for IBM, but in function served no other purpose than to serve as a demonstration at what could be done.
After manipulating the atom understanding concerning it has grown and we are currently looking at an increased interest in atoms becoming data storage units.
Such data storage units fall into the category of Quantum Computing. A brief definition of this would be a computer different from those that use digital transistors and function using superposition and entanglement.
Gregory Goth's 2012 thesis “Atomic-Level Computing,” looks at the research of the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and the computing company IBM and focuses on topics such as atomic storage, antiferromagnets, and single-atom transistors. Which would greatly reduce the size of modern day data storage devices to an atomic scale.
The differences laid out in this thesis is between classical and quantum computers. Where a classical, or digital computer uses a value of either 1 or a 0, a quantum computer does not. It may express that value as either 1 or 0, or express each simultaneously. This is significant and offers many possibilities for the future.
UNSW researchers built a single atom transistor “Which scaled an antiferromagnetic storage array 100 times denser than current state-of-the-art technology, demonstrates the boundary between the two is narrowing to the extent that even describing how the principles of one may affect the other, and how quickly scientific discovery may become more viable applied research, are taking on a decidedly amorphous or even “quantum” nature.” Goth explains.
In regards to this, Gabriel Lansbergen, a principle engineer at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, noted that in their own way similar to conventional transistors in that the current in the source and drain can be controlled by applying voltage to the gate electrodes. Though when the gate voltage isn't high enough the single-atom transistor behaves as a small quantum dot.
Another key concept to all of this lies with magnets and their integral part in this whole process. In this data-storage form, magnets are placed around the atom and spin in accordance with electrical stimuli. These spinning magnets allow the atom to act as a transistor which sends a series of readable signals stored on the atom. Much like a laser reading a disc, or a pin tracing the grooves of a record, the electronic connection the magnets share with the atom are the same means of data delivery you would see in similar device.
In similitude to classical computing, antiferromagnets need spin much like that of a traditional hard drive in order to function as a data storage device. Though the difficulty in working on such a small scale is that the antiferromagnets align and cancel out any magnetic movement.
The solution however is finding out how many atoms it takes before quantum mechanics can be ignored. When it comes to temperature change the atoms also exhibit change and instability. While a single atom data apparatus might function properly at colder temperatures, -270 Celsius, room temperature caused destabilization. Though IBM researchers believe that a structure of 150 atoms could work in maintaining functionality at room temperature. This spacing would allow magnetic forces to influence the atom free of interference from alignment with one another.
The end result of a fully functional version of such a device can theoretically have enough data storage space to contain all of the movies in the world, in a single atom. As astounding as this is, it is even more astounding to learn that such a device could use very small amounts of energy to function in comparison to classic technology.
In regards to this topic change, N. Kovanova, and J.Windelen discuss this topic at length in their article titled “Minimal energy control of a nanoelectromechanical memory element.”
Here they discuss the minimal energy control when switching energy in a nanoelectromechanical memory system. Using the Pontryagin minimal energy approach, two experimental pulse type signals were used and produced a rewarding effect when in regards to power consumption.
Dealing with the scale of a single-atom data source on such a small scale of energy distribution would be infantile in comparison to the hard drives and data storage devices currently in use. With their rapid course of development and integration into daily use, these advancements in nanotechnology will entirely reshape all aspects of daily life. Permanently affecting science, entertainment, and culture. Personal computers, mp3 players, cameras, phones, and gaming devices could easily be rolled into one omnia platform and could arguably be the size of a button, and that size only because anything smaller being entrusted to clumsy human fingers would inevitably get lost.
As much as I do not understand about the technical details of this new science, it is apparent, even to a novice such as I, that groundbreaking advances are being made in this field that make it very apparent that if a human mind can imagine something it is possible to achieve it through further discovery.
Sources
- Atomic-Level Computing. Goth, Gregory (AUTHOR) Communications of the ACM. Sep2012, Vol. 55 Issue 9, p11-13. 3p.
- There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom. Feynman, Richard. American Physical Society, Dec.291959
- Minimal energy control of a nanoelectromechanical memory element. Khovanova, N. A. Windelen, J.
Applied Physics Letters. 7/9/2012, Vol. 101 Issue 2, p024104-024104-4. 1p. 1 Chart, 4 Graphs.