Case Western Reserve University researchers have begun creating electromechanical switches-the foundation of circuits- that can handle double the heat at which electronic transistors useless.
These engineers, using tech from Charles Babbage who built a steam driven machine in the 1830s to calculate mathematical tables, and use it in nanotechnology to squeeze the switches into modern day computing platforms. Configuring the switches into a inverter they found that even at 500 Celsius it still works, which means they can use this tech inside engines of cars jets and rockets, deep underground drilling, and the surface of mercury, if you ever fancy a visit.
"They work because they're mechanical and made of silicon carbide, which is robust at high temperatures," Bhunia said. "The switches operate in high heat and radiation, at lower voltage and higher density and perform better than transistors designed to operate in high heat."
Classic transistors still have the advantage of no moving parts, but at 250 Celsius, they deteriorate losing electrons exited by warmth and lose the ability to relay current, and therefore computer data accurately.
The group worked with electron beam lithography and sulphur hexafluoride gas to make the switches, just a couple of hundred nano-meters large, in silicon carbide.
The researchers used a pair of switches, used as an inverter, was able to cycle on and off 500,000 times a second, performing computation each cycle. Unfortunately the switches broke down at about 2 billion cycles.
"We made a building block," Bhunia said. "Next, we're trying to make memory. If we can combine them, we can build a computer."
Confident that they can make much more resilient and powerful switches they will power on with their research and hopefully get rid of the need for expensive cooling systems.
-Fren
