Exotic material promises lower-power electronics, quantum computing

Technology News | June 7, 2018

By Rich Pell

Materials & processes MPUs/MCUs Power Management

Their findings, which involved using a material with both magnetic and insulator properties, promise to open the door to low-power electronics and, potentially, quantum computing. The material comprises chromium and vanadium as magnetic elements with an insulator consisting of bismuth, antimony, and tellurium.

When electrons in this special material are aligned in one direction – like a compass needle pointing north – an electric current can only flow along its edges in one direction, leading to zero energy loss. That means, say the researchers, that electricity could be conducted between transistors within silicon chips with maximum efficiency.

“This material, although it’s much diluted in terms of magnetic properties, can still behave like a magnet and conducts electricity at low temperature without energy loss,” says Weida Wu, senior author of a study on the research and associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Rutgers University–New Brunswick. “At least in principle, if you can make it work at a higher temperature, you can use it for electronic interconnections within silicon chips used in computers and other devices.”

Current silicon chips primarily use metal for electrical interconnections in transistors, but, say the researchers, that leads to substantial energy loss. The scientists demonstrated the uniform alignment of spinning electrons in the special magnetic insulator, which conducts electricity without energy loss when the temperature is close to absolute zero, or -459.67 degrees Fahrenheit.

Next steps, say the researchers, would include demonstrating the phenomenon at a much higher and more practical temperature for electronics, along with building a platform for quantum computing. For more, see “Direct evidence of ferromagnetism in a quantum anomalous Hall system.”