Ultra High speed Process

Researchers at Sun Yat-Sen University in China have demonstrated a way to record on ferromagnetic films using laser-assisted ultrafast magnetization reversal dynamics. The development will allow for practical use of new technology for recording more than 6,000 terabits (6 petabits) of data on a single 5-inch disc, using ultra-high-density magneto-optical storage devices.

The new ultrafast recording technique uses “time-resolved polar Kerr spectroscopy” combined with an alternating magnetic field strong enough to re-initialize the magnetization state of gadolinium-iron-cobalt (GdFeCo) thin films. The researchers showed that the magnetization reversal could occur on a sub-nanosecond time scale, which implies that next-generation magneto-optical storage devices can not only realize higher recording densities but also ultrafast data writing of up to a gigahertz — at least thirty times faster than that of present hard disks in computers.

Laser-assisted magnetic recording was demonstrated on a sub-picosecond time scale under a saturated external magnetic field. “We found that the rate of magnetization reversal is proportional to the external magnetic field,” says Tianshu Lai, “and the genuine thermo-magnetic recording should happen within several tens to hundreds of picoseconds when we apply a smaller magnetic field than the coercivity of the recording films.”

Near-threshold computing could enable up to 100x reduction in power consumption

Using Moore’s law as the metric of progress has become misleading: starting around the 65-nm node, improvements in packing densities no longer translate to proportional increases in performance or energy efficiency. Researchers predict that near-threshold computing could restore the relationship between transistor density and energy efficiency. Credit: Dreslinski, et al. ©2010 IEEE.

(PhysOrg.com) -- While electronic devices have greatly improved in many regards, such as in storage capacity, graphics, and overall performance, etc., they still have a weight hanging around their neck: they’re huge energy hogs. When it comes to energy efficiency, today’s computers, cell phones, and other gadgets are little better off than those from a decade ago, or more. The problem of power goes beyond being green and saving money. For electrical engineers, power has become the primary design constraint for future electronic devices. Without lowering power consumption, improvements made in other areas of electronic devices could be useless, simply because there isn’t enough power to support them.