Using the spin of electrons to make the smallest chips yet: each chip could hold trillions of transistors, compressing vast power into a tiny space
Article Abstract:
Bellcore researcher Mark Johnson has discovered a new technology for creating integrated circuits that could produce 0.01-micron circuit lines, 100 times smaller than those used today. The new technology is based on highly conductive materials instead of semiconductors, allowing for increased miniaturization without burnout. Johnson discovered that passing a current through a magnetic strip polarizes the spin of its component electrons, while changing the magnetic orientation of a second strip regulates the amount of current passing through the circuit. The resulting spin transistor can thus carry the binary 'on/off' information basic to computers. Only a weak magnetic field is needed to alter the second strip's magnetic orientation, and this orientation persists after the power is turned off, making Johnson's technique perfect for computer memory devices.
Publication Name: The New York Times
Subject: News, opinion and commentary
ISSN: 0362-4331
Year: 1993
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U.S. Has Plans To Again Make Own Plutonium
Article Abstract:
The U.S. government is planning to produce plutonium for the first time since the Cold War in order to provide power sources for equipment used in military operations, but not, according to officials, order to produce weapons; nevertheless, the plan is controversial.
Publication Name: The New York Times
Subject: News, opinion and commentary
ISSN: 0362-4331
Year: 2005
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