Liquid crystal alternative to electronics for computer design
Researchers at MIT say they have found evidence suggesting that a new kind of computer could be built based on nematic liquid crystals – a transparent or translucent liquid that causes the polarization of light waves to change as the waves pass through the liquid – rather than silicon. According to the researchers, the computer would be built using the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules – similar to those found in LCD TVs – to store data, with calculations expected to look like “ripples” through the liquid.
If successful, the computer design would provide an alternative to electronics for the building of computers and open a route toward the implementation of classical digital and nonclassical continuous computation strategies in topological soft matter systems. More generally, however, say the researchers, the results of the research suggest that the concept of nematic bits (nbits) can provide a fruitful new paradigm for exploring the computational potential of soft matter systems.
Liquid crystals consist of rod-shaped molecules that slosh around like a fluid. In the case of nematic liquid crystals, these molecules are mostly parallel to each other, to the point of the odd molecule that faces the wrong way having to be removed for the development of TV screens. This uniformity is however key for building a liquid crystal computer, say the researchers.
In contrast to ordinary computers, which store information as a series of bits, in the liquid crystal computer the information would translate the data into a series of defective orientations, where every different degree of misalignment with other molecules would codify a specific value. By avoiding using binary bits, the device could process an amount of information analogous to that of quantum computers.
Once the data has been stored, the computer would then use electric fields to manipulate the molecules and perform basic calculations in a similar way to standard logic gates. Previously, other researchers have successfully moved and assembled liquid crystal defects into patterns with electric fields in experiments, so the most basic techniques for starting to build a nematic liquid crystal computer already exist, say the researchers.
To test their approach, the researchers first drew up theories to describe how such calculations would take place. They then created simulations based on their theories (showing a four-nbit configuration realizing universal classical NOR and NAND gates) and found that their ideas appeared to be sound.
According to the researchers, their approach is ready for testing should a team of engineers be interested. For more, see “Nematic bits and universal logic gates.”
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