Atom-Thin Tech Replaces Silicon in the World’s First 2D Computer
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World’s first 2D, non-silicon computer developed | Penn State University
In a world first, a team led by researchers at Penn State used two-dimensional materials, which are only an atom thick and retain their properties at that scale, unlike silicon, to develop a computer capable of simple operations. The advancement, published in Nature, represents a major leap toward the realization of thinner, faster and more energy-efficient electronics, the researchers said.
(www.psu.edu)
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This post did not contain any content.
World’s first 2D, non-silicon computer developed | Penn State University
In a world first, a team led by researchers at Penn State used two-dimensional materials, which are only an atom thick and retain their properties at that scale, unlike silicon, to develop a computer capable of simple operations. The advancement, published in Nature, represents a major leap toward the realization of thinner, faster and more energy-efficient electronics, the researchers said.
(www.psu.edu)
A promising start, but a thousand transistors at 25 kilohertz puts it where silicon tech was 60 years ago, so they've a long, long way to go.
If it scales, they can use modern tech and know-how to accelerate their progress and they can get funding, maybe this will be viable in a decade or so.
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This post did not contain any content.
World’s first 2D, non-silicon computer developed | Penn State University
In a world first, a team led by researchers at Penn State used two-dimensional materials, which are only an atom thick and retain their properties at that scale, unlike silicon, to develop a computer capable of simple operations. The advancement, published in Nature, represents a major leap toward the realization of thinner, faster and more energy-efficient electronics, the researchers said.
(www.psu.edu)
I feel like I'd drop it, and it would crack in half.
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A promising start, but a thousand transistors at 25 kilohertz puts it where silicon tech was 60 years ago, so they've a long, long way to go.
If it scales, they can use modern tech and know-how to accelerate their progress and they can get funding, maybe this will be viable in a decade or so.
A promising start, but a thousand transistors at 25 kilohertz puts it where silicon tech was 60 years ago, so they’ve a long, long way to go.
If you're talking about the desire to replace today's modern CPUs, sure. However, in the world of electronics there are lots and lots of support electronics and ICs that run way slower than 25kHz. All of this assumes the technology can scale for cost effective manufacturing yields at this current speed. If its both expensive AND slow, it will have far fewer use cases.
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I feel like I'd drop it, and it would crack in half.
Linus? That you?
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I was thinking more about the availability of "molybdenum disulfide and tungsten diselenide" opposed to silicon, they don't sound exactly like Home Depot stuff.
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I was thinking more about the availability of "molybdenum disulfide and tungsten diselenide" opposed to silicon, they don't sound exactly like Home Depot stuff.
Fair point. From what I can tell, refined tungsten is actually an order of magnitude cheaper(!) than refined silicon, but molybdenum is over two orders or magnitude more expensive. ~300USD per ton, ~2000USD per ton and ~60000USD per ton respectively.
I assume that if this got up to scale industrially, savings could be made by recycling high purity molybdenum waste, but yes, it's not going to be cheap.
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Fair point. From what I can tell, refined tungsten is actually an order of magnitude cheaper(!) than refined silicon, but molybdenum is over two orders or magnitude more expensive. ~300USD per ton, ~2000USD per ton and ~60000USD per ton respectively.
I assume that if this got up to scale industrially, savings could be made by recycling high purity molybdenum waste, but yes, it's not going to be cheap.
Modem transistors aren't just silicon though. The silicon is doped with various materials, presumably gallium, boron, arsenic, phosphorus, and cobalt, among other elements.
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I feel like I'd drop it, and it would crack in half.
They say it's 2D so I would end up setting it somewhere and lose it because I can only see the sides it doesn't actually possess.
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CPUs are not made in a home depot.
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But material costs don't matter much in computer pricing.