Sort of a new technology... metal spintronics... right now, we store digital information 2 main ways: solid state flash RAM, magnetic HD drive. Race Track Memory stores data (i.e. bits 1, 0) on spin, a ensamble of electronic charges on a sheet material you can manipulate. Memory is stored in columns of magnetic materials, perpendicular to the surface of a silicon wafer, in opposite directions (binary 1, 0). In between are magnetic domain walls that are concurrent down a "racetrack" as far as I can understand.
Right now, in my opinion, electronics really can't go any smaller. We're at the grain size of silicon, the transistors (i.e. CMOS, the switch, binary 1, 0) dissipate ~70% heat as waste due to fundamental operation of the electronics, speeds won't get any better without sacrificing size and reliability. I think conventional electronics has hit a brick wall.
Here, this is different because we aren't using CMOS technology here. Head dissipation isn't an issue (depending on what changes this sheet to 1-0), higher speed, smaller, possibly better reliability. Best of all, it seems to implament alot of conventional CMOS fabrication processes - meaning this can actually be done for consumer products, not just in a lab.
__________________
"With a coach and a player, sometimes there's just so much respect there that it's boils over"
-Taylor Hall
Last edited by Phanuthier; 11-20-2008 at 11:53 PM.
Sort of a new technology... metal spintronics... right now, we store digital information 2 main ways: solid state flash RAM, magnetic HD drive. Race Track Memory stores data (i.e. bits 1, 0) on spin, a ensamble of electronic charges on a sheet material you can manipulate. Memory is stored in columns of magnetic materials, perpendicular to the surface of a silicon wafer, in opposite directions (binary 1, 0). In between are magnetic domain walls that are concurrent down a "racetrack" as far as I can understand.
Right now, in my opinion, electronics really can't go any smaller. We're at the grain size of silicon, the transistors (i.e. CMOS, the switch, binary 1, 0) dissipate ~70% heat as waste due to fundamental operation of the electronics, speeds won't get any better without sacrificing size and reliability. I think conventional electronics has hit a brick wall.
Here, this is different because we aren't using CMOS technology here. Head dissipation isn't an issue (depending on what changes this sheet to 1-0), higher speed, smaller, possibly better reliability. Best of all, it seems to implament alot of conventional CMOS fabrication processes - meaning this can actually be done for consumer products, not just in a lab.
THAT clears it up...
So the biggest benefits are smaller, better, faster, MORE efficient less energy?
Isn't this miniturization the way we have seen over the last 20 years? Yeah it's a new subset of knowledge, but really to the same ends?
Does it do anything new or different for us, rather than refine what we have?
So the biggest benefits are smaller, better, faster, MORE efficient less energy?
Isn't this miniturization the way we have seen over the last 20 years? Yeah it's a new subset of knowledge, but really to the same ends?
Does it do anything new or different for us, rather than refine what we have?
Sorry I tried to dumb it down the best I could. I didn't think that was too technical.
No, this is totally different. The past 40 years or whatever has been using something called CMOS technology (CMOS transistors, essentially switches that switch between 1 and 0). That is, little switches that turn on and off 1 and 0's and then we send it down a wire or group of wires. This is what someone in electrical engineering does.
Race track memory... or spintronics... is not CMOS technology, and its actually electrical engineering. This is material physics, used to perform the task that CMOS technology does. As I said, right now we probably are not going to see current technology go smaller, faster or more efficient. Before, we just took what Bell labs did and made it smaller and smaller and smaller (and faster and faster). Now, we've hit a wall, so what we did is tried to spread out the work to other peripherals to help us out or we pipeline the info (i.e. Duel Core / Quad Core).
Race track memory... pretty much spintronics... is a totally independent field from what we are doing now. It just so conviniently happens, though, that we can make these little widgets using similar processes that we make our current electronics. As I said earlier, the difference between exciting new science and seeing it come into the real world is two-fold, one is that it has to be easy to make using current processes (i.e. CMOS technology) which is where most new science struggle to cross the chasm... and two, it has to be able to have market demand to support it.
__________________
"With a coach and a player, sometimes there's just so much respect there that it's boils over"
-Taylor Hall
Sorry I tried to dumb it down the best I could. I didn't think that was too technical.
No, this is totally different. The past 40 years or whatever has been using something called CMOS technology (CMOS transistors, essentially switches that switch between 1 and 0). That is, little switches that turn on and off 1 and 0's and then we send it down a wire or group of wires. This is what someone in electrical engineering does.
Race track memory... or spintronics... is not CMOS technology, and its actually electrical engineering. This is material physics, used to perform the task that CMOS technology does. As I said, right now we probably are not going to see current technology go smaller, faster or more efficient. Before, we just took what Bell labs did and made it smaller and smaller and smaller (and faster and faster). Now, we've hit a wall, so what we did is tried to spread out the work to other peripherals to help us out or we pipeline the info (i.e. Duel Core / Quad Core).
Race track memory... pretty much spintronics... is a totally independent field from what we are doing now. It just so conviniently happens, though, that we can make these little widgets using similar processes that we make our current electronics. As I said earlier, the difference between exciting new science and seeing it come into the real world is two-fold, one is that it has to be easy to make using current processes (i.e. CMOS technology) which is where most new science struggle to cross the chasm... and two, it has to be able to have market demand to support it.
I understand that you were dumbing it down. I actually got most of what you were saying too.
Let's pretend you're pitching it to a 30 second commercial though. Let me be the marketing director who gets you, but knows the world wont.
What will this do for society? How is this a huge leap? The other two are vivid in people's minds (rightly or wrongly). How is this revolutionary and more important, not just a step in a process...
And.... GO!
So far you're talking about smaller.
The age old Dilbert. Marketing vs Engineering.
I understand engineering, but I live in marketing.
I understand that you were dumbing it down. I actually got most of what you were saying too.
Let's pretend you're pitching it to a 30 second commercial though. Let me be the marketting director who gets you, but knows the world wont.
What will this do for society? How is this a huge leap? The other two are vivid in people's minds (rightly or wrongly). How is this revolutionary and more important, not just a step in a process...
And.... GO!
So far you're talking about smaller.
The age old Dilbert. Marketting vs Engineering.
I understand engineering, but I live in marketting.
Are you a doctor and you need something that can give you high resolution pictures in real time? Is your computer database lagging and you need faster speeds? How would you like to stream HDTV from your computer to your 52" TV.? How does watching a hockey game in 3D with quality just as good as if you were at the game? How does a laptop that is 1 lbs and outperform a super computer sound to you?
Current technology (i.e. CMOS technology) can't do that. Race track memory can!
__________________
"With a coach and a player, sometimes there's just so much respect there that it's boils over"
-Taylor Hall
Imagine, world of warcraft. In real life. Actually be in the game, world of warcraft. All you need is a basement, a 3D holographic display and a computer with the power only Race Track Memory can offer you. Why wonder around killing (??) with a mouse and keyboard, when you can actually do it in real life?
__________________
"With a coach and a player, sometimes there's just so much respect there that it's boils over"
-Taylor Hall
So basically we've been focusing on the pipes for all this time (IE making fibre optics work) when really our processors and periphials can do it for us?
Or will we still need smart cable?
Or will this new cable be made of what you speak of?
So basically we've been focusing on the pipes for all this time (IE making fibre optics work) when really our processors and periphials can do it for us?
Or will we still need smart cable?
Or will this new cable be made of what you speak of?
Hmm, not really actually. This is a sheet material. Think a sheet of metal, except this metal can store information really really small (much smaller then the smallest can possibly do now)... and it can move faster much much faster... and best of all (and the factor that is stopping us from making smaller/faster electronics right now) low/no heat produced and wasted.
This isn't actually a cable as far as I can tell, this is like a mesh that can store information and process lots of information really fast.
__________________
"With a coach and a player, sometimes there's just so much respect there that it's boils over"
-Taylor Hall
Hmm, not really actually. This is a sheet material. Think a sheet of metal, except this metal can store information really really small (much smaller then the smallest can possibly do now)... and it can move faster much much faster... and best of all (and the factor that is stopping us from making smaller/faster electronics right now) low/no heat produced and wasted.
This isn't actually a cable as far as I can tell, this is like a mesh that can store information and process lots of information really fast.
Is this that sheet that is actually 3 dimensions on a atomic scale or something. I think I read about that.
It's like three dimensional flat paper (is all how I can explain it)
And what you are saying is, it's a fundamental new building block.
And what you are saying is, it's a fundamental new building block.
yup exactly
Quote:
Originally Posted by Daradon
Metal that is bendable like paper, but strong like metal. I know not exactly, but kinda of the CNN approach.
That could really be a number of thinks. Is it actually metal? Cause then, its just metal, nothing special. If you are talking about something that is really strong, but light, you are probably talking about carbon nanotubes. If you are talking about exectronics that are flexable, you are talking about OLEDs.
__________________
"With a coach and a player, sometimes there's just so much respect there that it's boils over"
-Taylor Hall
Dunno how much interest this has, but I pointed out earlier that I see silicon photonics as the technology that will keep electronics small, faster and colder, Intel releases its first advancement in it in 2 years. (As far as I know, most of this field is done at Intel.)
Sorry if bumping this thread so many times annoys anyone, but of the 2 topics I saw major developments in (one being silicon photonics, above), the other - drug delivery - has some breakthrough developments.
Basically, carbon nanotubes used to help sense which areas to target for chemo so chemo can help target specific cancer cells and thus, lower the amount of drugs used and also lower the dosage of chemo used.
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And while I'm bumping this thread, a breakthrough development in biomaterials - not really a field I know alot about as to where its going, but basically they have this material that is like toothpaste, and you can insert into the body and it hardens and acts like an artificial skeleton.
This is all cute and great, but how do we reach a point of no scarcity? It's impossible.
Easy. We have a massive World War number ?. Vastly reduced population and setback hundreds of years with a devastated planet. Then we work our way back up the tech scale/human rights etc. Then we look over at what our neighbors got and decide we would like to take it.
