UAlberta research team developing atom-scale, ultra-low-power computing devices to replace transistor circuits. The digital age has resulted in a succession of smaller, cleaner and less power-hungry technologies since the days the personal computer fit atop a desk, replacing mainframe models that once filled entire rooms. Desktop PCs have since given way to smaller and smaller laptops, smartphones and devices that most of us carry around in our pockets. This video animation shows how atomic “quantum dots” could lead to revolutionary, ultra-low-power electronics. (Video courtesy Robert Wolkow)(Edmonton) In the drive to get small, Robert Wolkow and his lab at the University of Alberta are taking giant steps forward. But as Wolkow points out, this technological shrinkage can only go so far when using traditional transistor-based integrated circuits. That’s why he and his research team are aiming to build entirely new technologies at the atomic scale. “Our ultimate goal is to make ultra-low-power electronics because that’s what is most demanded by the world right now,” said Wolkow, the iCORE Chair in Nanoscale Information and Communications Technology in the Faculty of Science. “We are approaching some fundamental limits that will stop the 30-year-long drive to make things faster, cheaper, better and smaller;
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