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Researchers convert soundwaves into electromagnetic energy, silence no longer golden
Researchers in Japan and Germany have converted energy from soundwaves into electromagnetic energy, trapping a magnetic "spin current" between metal layers. In the experiment, when sound waves are directed at an interface between the thin metal layer and magnetic material, electrical signals are generated at a pair of electrodes attached above. When the soundwaves reach the magnetic material, this creates a spin current that gets picked up by three layers of metal. This is where the exercise class-sounding reverse spin Hall effect kicks in, transforming it into an electrical voltage. Not to be confused with Orange's Sound Charge T-Shirt, scientists believe that it should be possible to generate that mystical electromagnetic energy from any material in the future. At the moment, the project is looking into materials that are able to eke out more voltage from the process -- perhaps a few years later screaming at our phones will give their batteries a boost? Watch the video after the break for more technical details and close-ups of the equipment.
NEC makes content addressable memory that takes data deposits sans power, RAM green with envy
Wouldn't it be great if system memory was super speedy like RAM and non-volatile like flash? Well, NEC and Tohoku University's new content addressable memory (CAM) has accomplished the trick -- it promises five-nanosecond retrieval speeds equal to sticks of DDR3 1600 and can store data even when the power's off. Spintronics logic is what makes the magic happen by setting the spin direction of electrons and using their interaction with magnetic forces to store bits of data. Those spinning attributes are then kept on the circuit even when there's no electricity flowing. The catch? This new CAM big -- 90nm compared to the 30nm DRAM currently available -- despite the fact it's half the size of previous CAM chips, and NEC's not telling how quickly it can write data. Of course, the tech is still in its developmental stages, so we won't getting its zero-power standby mode and instant-on capabilities in our gadgets for some time. PR after the break.
Researchers show off DLC projector screen viewable in bright lighting conditions
One of the knocks against projectors has always been that they're not able to perform to their fullest unless the room is completely dark, but that may finally change if some researchers from Japan's Tohoku University have their way. They've developed a projector screen based on Diffused Light Control (or DLC), which allows only the light from the projector to be diffused towards those looking at the screen, while all other ambient light is either absorbed or reflected away. Of course, that doesn't mean the screen is quite ready for your home theater or boardroom. As you can see above, the current screen is made up of small panels that leave some noticeable seams, and it apparently still has considerable trouble in direct sunlight, although the researchers are confident both of those problems can eventually be overcome. Head on past the break to check it out on video.
Diamond shaped supercapacitors could result in faster-charging, higher capacity batteries
Superconductors pass electricity with zero resistance and make stuff float. Superfluids have zero viscosity and can climb vertical walls to escape containers. Supercapacitors? Well, they don't do anything quite so dramatic, but they could result in batteries that charge faster and hold more charge than ever. Capacitors in general have to run a balance between capacity and fast charging, but these fancy ones with diamond-shaped nanopores in zeolite-templated carbon, developed at Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan, are said to offer the best of both worlds. How good? Cellphones that charge in minutes, electric cars with longer lasting batteries, and free Superman Underoos for all. Naturally there's no word on when these things might actually escape the lab and show up in real batteries, but you already knew that, didn't you.
Researchers set new record for ferroelectric data storage
Ferroelectric isn't just a ridiculously fun word to say, it might just also be the future of computing. While that possibility is still a ways off, researchers have been making considerable progress in recent years, and a team from Japan's Tohoku University has now set a new record for ferroelectric data storage. That was accomplished with the aid of a scanning nonlinear dielectric microscope, which allowed the researchers to hit a data density of 4 trillion bits per square inch. As you might expect, the exact process is a bit complicated -- involving a pulse generator that's used to alter the electrical state of tiny dots on the ferroelectric medium -- but the researchers say that the technology is a leading candidate to replace magnetic hard drives and flash memory, or "at least in applications for which extremely high data density and small physical volume is required." Unfortunately, they aren't going so far as to speculate when that might happen.
Sony, Tohoku University develop blue-violet laser with 100 watt output, eyeing 1TB optical disk future?
As much as some would like to envision a world entirely bereft of disk-based media, with Blu-ray being the medium's swan song, that ain't happening. Sony's already looking to the future, and in cahoots with Tohoku University, it has developed a blue-violet laser capable of 100 watt output. That's reportedly more than 100 times the "world's highest output values for conventional blue-violet pulse semiconductor lasers." In the press release, the company said its tested using such technology for next-generation, large-capacity optical disc-storage, and while that doesn't say too much at face value, the Examiner reports (by way of various Japanese news outlets) that it equates to 20 times the storage of current Blu-ray disks, or about 1TB of data. Don't worry, we're sure all those 4K 3D films will still find a way to justify a "barebones" release dearth of features before magically making room for a second (and even third) Special Edition in time for respective holiday seasons.
New research aims to speed up MRAM in a future you'll never live to see (probably)
A month after German researchers announced their latest breakthrough in MRAM design, physicists at Japan's Tohoku University now say that it is possible to use an electric field to manipulate the magnetic domains in a semiconductor -- eliminating moving magnets from MRAM completely. MRAM designed using the electric field method would be faster -- and would use less energy -- than earlier variations on the technology, thus making our lives easier and generally more awesome. Of course, none of this stuff actually exists yet, and it's still got fierce competition from competing ideas (like IBM's racetrack memory), so for now we'll just have to stay content with the four 128k chips we scraped out of our old XT.[Via MRAM Info]
Toshiba's NC-MR technology could boost HDD capacity 'tenfold'
Just days after Fujitsu tooted its own horn and suggested that it could increase hard drive capacity by 500-percent in a mere two years comes word that Toshiba coincidentally has a similarly grandiose claim. Aside from the obvious leapfrog game that's being played here, Tosh has apparently been working hand-in-hand with Tohoku University to develop "a phenomenon" dubbed Nanocontact Magnetic Resistance, or NC-MR, in which an "enormous difference in magnetoresistance is achieved when two magnetic materials are situated close together and connected by a contact point that narrows to around 1-nanometer." Put simply, the prototype NC-MR structure is twice as large as today's read heads, and elements based on the NC-MR structure would have a "lower resistance than existing TMR elements, enabling the read heads to be miniaturized and still operate quickly." Of course, these sensational claims have yet to make it beyond the drawing board, and while you may be anxious to get one of these in your rig, you'll be waiting about five years or so if things continue as planned. [Warning: Read link requires subscription]
