University of Tokyo develops device that increases computer processing speed by 1000 times, operating without generating heat.

Turbo botton is back!!

A research team from the University of Tokyo and other institutions has developed a device that can increase the information processing speed of semiconductor chips used in computers and other devices by 1,000 times. This device generates less heat, leading to reduced power consumption. The team aims to develop a practical prototype chip by 2030.

Applying this technology could potentially allow data that previously took an hour to download to be processed in just one second, according to Professor Tomoaki Nakatsuji of the University of Tokyo. The research findings were published in the American scientific journal “Science.”

Computers perform calculations using bits, which represent the presence or absence of electrical current as “0” or “1”. This electrical current is controlled by tiny components called transistors. While high-speed bit control is crucial for high-speed calculations, exceeding a certain processing speed posed a challenge: the required power increases dramatically, generating heat. Existing processing technologies had reached their limits in the 2000s.

The newly developed “non-volatile quantum switching element” represents bits using the magnetic properties (spin) of electrons, rather than the flow of electricity. In experiments, it was possible to process one bit of information in 40 picoseconds (pico is one trillionth of a second), which is 1/1000th of the time of conventional methods. With existing technology, even at its fastest, it took about 1 nanosecond (nano is one billionth of a second) to record one bit of information.

The element is composed of two types of materials: tantalum and mangansin. The electrical signal passed through the tantalum is ultimately recorded in the mangansin as information about the direction of a minute magnetic force. This direction represents a bit.

The element generates little heat, and in experiments, it operated stably even after processing information more than 100 billion times. Attempting to achieve the same processing speed with existing technology would result in failure due to heat after approximately 10 million to 1 million cycles.

Because the new technology stores information magnetically, it can also be applied to non-volatile memory. Professor Nakatsuji explains, “Information can be recorded with almost no energy consumption.”

The proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) and other technologies is increasing the amount of information processed, leading to higher electricity demand. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the spread of AI is expected to expand the electricity demand of data centers worldwide to 945 terawatts (a terawatt is 1 trillion watts) by 2030. This is more than double the level in 2024 and will exceed Japan’s total electricity consumption.

The research has also found that the performance of the elements tends to improve as they become smaller. If this can be put into practical use, it could potentially reduce the power consumption required for information processing to one-hundredth of what it is now, and the researchers plan to develop a prototype chip by 2030. Collaboration with companies is crucial for prototyping and manufacturing the chip, and Professor Nakatsuji is enthusiastic, saying, “We want to collaborate globally to aim for social implementation.”

Researchers from the University of Tokyo have developed a groundbreaking, heat-free optical computing technology that uses light instead of electricity to process data, potentially increasing computing speeds by up to 1,000 times. This technology employs “diffraction casting,” utilizing photons and silicon waveguides for rapid, efficient calculations, resulting in less than 1% of the energy consumption of traditional electric chips.

Because the system uses photonics rather than electrical currents, it avoids resistance, operating with virtually no heat generation.

As with all of these breakthroughs, the 1000x increase without heat is just for the actual computation, not the massive machinery needed to make quantum computing work. And the speed up is theoretical on paper only, they have not made a product that could be scaled anywhere close to production.

Someday, this may be a thing. But we’re easily 30 years from having one at any sort of scale, if it ever happens. When it is truly ready, it will be popping up everywhere and you won’t need articles to let you know how cool it is.

Did they turn it upside down??

Wow, can’t wait to see the benefits on the consumer sides and i can finally play Crysis worry free!

It’s using individual electrons as the bits is the new and fancy part? But not as a “ quantum computer” 

Playstation 6??? hell yeah

what, a usb stick with Windows debloating software on it?

/s, i wonder if this could evolve into something (that we could use) that replaces transistors like how transistors replaced vacuum tubes

What kind of speed? Article mentions several things:

Network speed: possibility that data that took an hour to download could be processed in one second

Processing speed: process a bit of information in forty picos (one-trunths of a trillionths of a second) and a thousandth of a second in a short time

Storage speed: “We can record information without consuming almost any energy.”

Can it really be all three?

VTEC engaged

Nice. But it won’t scale. It is the equivalent if building a chip with a tunneling microscope by hand.