DesertFox
04-27-2004, 10:35 PM
An ultrafast, low-cost computer that boots up instantly and safeguards data in case of a crash may sound like a mythical fairy tale beast, but the idea behind it comes from less fanciful stuff: the quantum theory of spintronics combined with plastic magnets.
The trick to spintronics, however, is to exploit the electrons' spin instead of, or in conjunction with, their charge.
"It's another level of function that opens up -- a new way of doing circuitry," said Arthur Epstein, professor of physics and chemistry at Ohio State University and a member of the team working on the supercomputer's design.
To take advantage of the spin, you have to control it. This is where the magnets come in. Applying a magnetic field to the electrons aligns, or polarizes, the random jumble of spinning, so all the electrons spin in the same direction.
Data can be transported, via the electrons, along a wire and then read at a terminal.
"On a regular desktop it can take several seconds or longer to boot up because it has to retrieve, out of the magnetic memory, information for the computer's settings and then put it onto the RAM," Epstein said. "A spintronic-based computer would boot up instantly because, with a magnetic control drive, the information would be stored right in the RAM."
[/b] More (http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,55386,00.html) [/b]
The trick to spintronics, however, is to exploit the electrons' spin instead of, or in conjunction with, their charge.
"It's another level of function that opens up -- a new way of doing circuitry," said Arthur Epstein, professor of physics and chemistry at Ohio State University and a member of the team working on the supercomputer's design.
To take advantage of the spin, you have to control it. This is where the magnets come in. Applying a magnetic field to the electrons aligns, or polarizes, the random jumble of spinning, so all the electrons spin in the same direction.
Data can be transported, via the electrons, along a wire and then read at a terminal.
"On a regular desktop it can take several seconds or longer to boot up because it has to retrieve, out of the magnetic memory, information for the computer's settings and then put it onto the RAM," Epstein said. "A spintronic-based computer would boot up instantly because, with a magnetic control drive, the information would be stored right in the RAM."
[/b] More (http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,55386,00.html) [/b]