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Terahertz radiation could speed up computer memory by 1000 times
One area limiting speed in personal computing speed is memory -- specifically, how quickly individual memory cells can be switched, which is currently done using an external magnetic field. European and Russian scientists have proposed a new method using much more rapid terahertz radiation, aka "T-rays," the same things used in airport body scanners. According to their research, published in the journal Nature, swapping out magnetic fields for T-rays could crank up the rate of the cell-resetting process by a factor of 1000, which could be used to create ultrafast memory.
Researchers crafting hybrid material to hasten computing processes
There's been no shortage of fantasmical ideas to speed up our everyday computers, but a team of researchers from a variety of universities are working to do just that not by encouraging gamers to slap NOS stickers on their cases, but by combining magnetic and semiconductor components. Respectively, each of the aforesaid parts handle memory and logic functions, but this team is purporting that processes could be completed quicker and in a more power efficient manner if a hybrid material -- which combined both functions -- were created. The team has already received a $6.5 million grant from the Department of Defense with the overriding goal being to "explore new ways to integrate magnetism and magnetic materials with emerging electronic materials such as organic semiconductors," and while it's suggested that these so-called hybrid devices would be fairly inexpensive to produce in the future, it's too early to determine how close we are to seeing any breakthroughs slip out to consumerland.[Via Gearlog, image courtesy of University of Missouri]
