Theorists Predict New State of Quantum Matter May Have Big Impact on Electronics

[bananas]

http://www.spacemart.com/reports/Theorists_Predict_New_State_of_Quantum_Matter_May_Have_Big_Impact_on_Electronics_999.html

Theorists Predict New State of Quantum Matter May Have Big Impact on Electronics
Washington DC (SPX) Dec 22, 2013

Constantly losing energy is something we deal with in everything we do. If you stop pedaling a bike, it gradually slows; if you let off the gas, your car also slows. As these vehicles move, they also generate heat from friction.

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In a paper appearing in Physical Review Letters the team predicts stanene would be the first topological insulator to demonstrate zero heat dissipation properties at room temperature, conducting charges around its edges without any loss. Experiments are underway to create the material in laboratory conditions. If successful, the team will use stanene to enhance devices they are building under the Meso program.

"We recently realized there is another state of electronic matter: a topological insulator. Materials in a topologically insulating state are like paying for the gasoline to accelerate your car to highway speeds, but then cruising as far as you want on that highway without using up any more gas," said Jeffrey Rogers, DARPA program manager.

<snip>

Researchers at Stanford reported the first topological insulators in 2006 under a previous DARPA effort known as the Focus Center Research Program. The current Meso program developed the theory for stanene as part of research into more efficient ways to move information inside microchips. Other materials' capabilities have come close, but only at temperatures that require extreme sub-zero temperatures created with bulky methods such as liquid helium.

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[Berlum]

1. DARPA?

Now where have I heard that acronym before?

Whatever. Stanene sounds rad.

[jimlup]

2. I'm assuming your not being sarcastic...

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)

[BumRushDaShow]

3. Related to this

A Brief History of the Internet & Related Networks
Introduction

In 1973, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) initiated a research program to investigate techniques and technologies for interlinking packet networks of various kinds. The objective was to develop communication protocols which would allow networked computers to communicate transparently across multiple, linked packet networks. This was called the Internetting project and the system of networks which emerged from the research was known as the "Internet." The system of protocols which was developed over the course of this research effort became known as the TCP/IP Protocol Suite, after the two initial protocols developed: Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Internet Protocol (IP).

More: http://www.internetsociety.org/internet/what-internet/history-internet/brief-history-internet-related-networks

[Javaman]

4. in other news: perpetual motion inventors harness the power of their jealousy. nt

[bemildred]

5. That would be a very big deal if they can scale it up. nt

[mindwalker_i]

6. I have not seen any comparison between topological insulators

and superconductors. It seems to me that topological insulators (TI) are, in essence, superconductors on their outer surfaces, so the next question becomes, how much current can they handle. Also, can one shrink them so the insulating part is small, maximizing the surface area and then putting a whole bunch of these strands into a cable that can carry a lot of current? That would revolutionize power distribution. If these TIs could be used in place of the metal layer in microchips, that could cut down of power consumption and improve signal quality.