Headline June 27, 2016/ ''' COMPUTING BLACK MAGIC '''

''' COMPUTING BLACK MAGIC '''

ALMOST ALL OF THE HIGHER SCIENCES  - are just nothing short of Black Magic and the United States has, and maybe, alongwith a few more countries,  admirably-

Through dint of research and hard work built a very working model to roll out, on regular basis, new concepts and new technologies. For example, the Drones will soon have an Operating System.  

So for centuries to come, most of  the world at large can at best, copy creatively. That too is very, very hard.

I can go on and on, and explain, but sheer discipline prevails. In  just one scenario,  It is like an idiot-savant, right here in, Pakistan, who bummed the nation into believing that cars and engines, could run on water.

IN CONTRAST, Dr Scherer's miniature vacuum tube switches perform a jujitsu move by using the same mechanism that causes leakages in transistors-

Known by physicists as quantum tunneling   -to switch on and off the flow of electrons without without leakage.

As a result, he believes that modern vacuum tube circuits have the potential to use less power and work faster than today's transistor-based chips.  

''Effects that are currently problems in scaling are precisely those that we would like to use for switching in these next-generation devices,'' Dr. Scherer said, noting-

That while there are efforts to redesign semiconductor based transistors around the tunneling effect, his approach is significantly simpler.

Vacuum tubes are one of a range of ideas that engineers are looking at as they work to create chips that can do more while using less power. 

Other promising approaches include exotic materials such as carbon nanotubes and even microscopic mechanical switches that can be opened and closed just like an electronic gate.

The Caltech researchers returned to the idea of vacuum tubes several years ago after they had begun experimenting with the idea of making ultrasmall incandescent light bulbs, larger than a modern transistor that would be bright enough to be seen by the naked eye from across a room.

The group previously worked in research areas like quantum dots, nano-scale structures now used in television displays to produce precise colors, and optoelectronics-

A field that explores the use of lasers in  electronic circuits. But they decided to look for new research areas that were less crowded with competitors.

Today, semiconductor companies like  Intel  are making silicon chips with minimum dimensions of  10 to 24  nanometers.

[A strand of DNA is roughly 2.5 nanometers in diameter]. Once an industry shrinks below  10 nanometers, Dr Scherer expects the researchers will be surprised by the behaviour of silicon at such atomic dimensions.

For one thing, silicon emits light below  10 nanometers, he said. More significant, it also becomes remarkably elastic as it becomes that small.

''It's a different material, and it gives you this different behaviour,'' he said. He sees the future in other materials and in old ideas that would be made new again.

In contrast to silicon, a semiconductor, which can either conduct or insulate, depending on how it is chemically modified, Dr. Scherer's tubes can be made from a range of conducting metals, such as tungsten, molylbdenum, gold and platinum. 

This will be an advantage because it will drastically simplify the tiny switches at the atomic scale.

Dr. Scherer does not think the tiny tube will immediately replace the transistor, but the possibility of applications in  space and aviation  has caught the attention of  Boeing, which is financing the research.

Such specialty chips might be ready commercially before the end of the decade, he believes.

''Ten years ago,  silicon transistors  could meet all of our demands,'' he said. ''In the next decade, that will no longer be true.''        

With respectful dedication to Scientists, Students, Professors and Teachers of the World. See Ya all on  !WOW!  -the World Students Society and !E-WOW!  -the Ecosystem 2011:

''' The Forum '''

Good Night and God Bless

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