Towards Low Energy Tech - Hardware for Future Computing

Future Computing PROGRAMME LEADER: 

Simon Brown

FC Project 1: Demonstrate reservoir computing with electronic and optical networks.

Project Leader:

Natalie Plank

Lead Principal Investigators:

Martin Allen, Simon Brown, Natalie Plank, Nicola Gaston.

We’ll be exploring ‘neuromorphic’ (brain-like) computing using films of nanoparticles (or clusters). We have recently shown that these complex networks of ‘memristor-like’ elements have both brain-like structures and strongly correlated brain-like patterns of electrical signals. (A memristor is an electrical component that can regulate the flow of electrical current in a circuit (like a resistor) but also remembers the amount of charge that has previously flowed through it - hence the name). We plan to exploit these signals in order to implement on-chip computational processes such as pattern recognition and time series prediction. Metal oxide semiconductors (and networks of them) are one of the contributing technologies for our ‘brain-inspired’ reservoir computing goals, especially oxygen vacancy channels in Gallium Oxide memristors. We’ll study all of these using a combination of experimental synthetic (molecular beam epitaxy, pulsed laser deposition, and rf sputtering), analytical (optical, cathodoluminescence and synchrotron X-ray spectroscopy) and theoretical (ray tracing modelling and ab initio electronic structure theory) methods.

FC Project 2: Realise future computing with biological and soft matter 

Project Leader:

Charles Unsworth

Lead Principal Investigators:

Charles Unsworth, Bill Williams, Eric Le Ru.

We’ll stimulate 2D organised gel grid networks of human cells, and record how they learn, in order to better understand rudimentary computing in organic systems on a chip. We’ll also look at Pectins, which have been shown to be involved in plant responses to heat or cold temperature stress. With an eye to future computing, we’ll use our expertise in the fine structure design of pectic polymers to work towards a sustainable high-tech device based on pectin for monitoring temperature and internal stresses.

FC Project 3: Control electron transport and spin through superconductivity and topology

Project Leader:

Simon Granville

Lead Principal Investigators:

Franck Natali, Ben Ruck, Michele Governale, Simon Granville.

Triplet superconductivity in SmN: effects of correlations and disorder 

Samarium Nitride (SmN) is a material that is simultaneously ferromagnetic and superconductive, and therefore is an ideal candidate for applications in the field of superconducting spintronics. We’ll study riplet superconductivity in SmN, in particular the effects of correlations and disorder. We’ll also use electrical transport and spectroscopy to study the electronic phase diagram of Samarium Nitride.

Novel low-energy switching elements are needed for the next generation of high-performance computing. We’ll develop sandwiches of different materials, known as oxide heterostructures, which are capable of switching between superconducting and resistive states. We’ll be using oxide thin-film growth, and multiple techniques to characterise physical and electrical properties, in order to develop an understanding of the underlying physics.

Technology built on ferromagnetic thin films gave us the high-capacity hard drives that led to the internet and all the huge benefits of modern computing available today. Now research into magnetic materials is focused on achieving new forms of computing that are ultra-fast and extremely energy-efficient. We’ll work to make prototype spintronics memory devices that use topologically interesting electronic states. We’ll also study control and switching properties of superconducting structures using ferromagnetic semiconductors.

FC4: Develop novel ram architectures using topological nanostructures 

Project Leader:

James Storey

Lead Principal Investigators:

Ulrich Zülicke, Grant Williams, James Storey.

We’ll study topological insulator nanoparticles, looking at how size affects their physical properties. We’ll also explore theoretically the device applications, and electronic and optical properties, of topological nanomaterials.

PhD Scholarships available in Hardware for Future Computing

See here for the full list of PhD Scholarships available in Hardware for Future Computing funded by the MacDiarmid Institute and how to apply.

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