Energy News  
Silicon Chips With Ultra-Cold Atoms � The Future Of Computing

illustration only

London - Mar 24, 2004
Developments in snap-shot MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), organic semiconductor technology, high temperature superconductivity, and progress towards quantum computers are some of the topics being presented at a major conference organised by the Institute of Physics next month. The four-day conference, CMMP 2004, will take place from Sunday 4th to Wednesday 7th April 2004 at the University of Warwick.

Silicon microchips touch our lives in many ways � they power personal computers and enable high-speed medical imaging. Inside silicon chips, electrons move along microscopic wires that form complex electrical circuits.

At this conference, on Tuesday 6th April, Professor Jakob Reichel from the University of Munich will describe a revolutionary new type of microchip in which entire atoms, rather than just electrons, move around circuits.

In these "atom chips", thousands of atoms hover in a cloud above the surface of the chip, and move along air wires produced by tiny magnetic fields � like microscopic magnetic levitation trains floating above a track.

The atom clouds themselves are very special � they are so cold that all of the atoms merge into one "superatom", known as a Bose-Einstein Condensate, which behaves like a wave and exhibits bizarre quantum behaviour.

Bose-Einstein Condensates have just entered the Guinness Book of Records as the coldest ever place � within a few billionths of a degree of the lowest possible temperature, absolute zero.

Using atom chips to move and manipulate Bose-Einstein Condensates could enable the development of "quantum computers", which would exploit unique features of quantum mechanics, and, for certain tasks, be vastly more powerful than the conventional electronic computers available today.

There will be twenty-two symposia within the conference including 'Nanomagnetism and Spintronics', 'Quantum Fluids and Solids', 'Semiconductor Optics and Photonics', 'Applied Superconductivity' and 'Bose-Einstein Condensates'.

Community
Email This Article
Comment On This Article

Related Links
Institute of Physics
SpaceDaily
Search SpaceDaily
Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express
Space Technology News - Applications and Research



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


Industry Team Achieve New Communications Technology With AESA Radars
Baltimore MD (SPX) Jan 12, 2006
A team comprised of three leading US aerospace and defense contractors has demonstrated an innovative technological use of active electronically scanned array (AESA) radars for high-bandwidth communications.







  • Another Twist In The Field Of Superconductivity
  • Scientists Call For Less Destructive Remediation At Doe Sites
  • INEEL Designing Prototype System For Yucca Mountain Repository
  • EU Offers Armenia 100 Million Euros To Shut Down Nuclear Plant

  • Yucca Mountain Site Must Make Use Of Geological Safety Net
  • New Jersey Physicist Uncovers New Information About Plutonium
  • Complex Plant Design Goes Virtual To Save Time And Money
  • Volcanic Hazard At Yucca Mountain Greater Than Previously Thought





  • NASA Uses Remotely Piloted Airplane To Monitor Grapes



  • Sonic Boom Modification May Lead To New Era
  • Hewitt Pledges Support For Aerospace Industry
  • National Consortium Picks Aviation Technology Test Site
  • Wright Flyer Takes To The Sky In Las Vegas

  • Los Alamos Hopes To Lead New Era Of Nuclear Space Tranportion With Jovian Mission
  • Boeing Selects Leader for Nuclear Space Systems Program
  • Boeing-Led Team to Study Nuclear-Powered Space Systems
  • Boeing To Build Space-borne Power Generator

  • The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement