Semiconductor Could Turn Heat into Computing Power

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Computers might one day recycle part of their own waste heat using a material being studied by engineering researchers at Ohio State.

Joseph Heremans, professor of mechanical engineering and physics and Ohio Eminent Scholar in Nanotechnology, and Roberto Myers, assistant professor of materials science engineering and electrical and computer engineering, are researching an effect that converts heat into a quantum mechanical phenomenon — known as spin — in a specific semiconductor material, gallium manganese arsenide.

Researchers around the world are working to develop electronics that utilize the spin of electrons to read and write data. In principle, so-called “spintronics” could store more data in less space, process data faster and consume less power.

“Spintronics is considered as a possible basis for new computers in part because the technology is claimed to produce no heat. Our measurements shed light on the thermodynamics of spintronics and may help address the validity of this claim,” Heremans said.

Myers and Heremans are trying to combine spintronics with thermo-electronics — that is, devices that convert heat to electricity. The hybrid technology, “thermo-spintronics,” would convert heat to electron spin and solve two problems for the computing industry: how to remove waste heat, and how to boost computing power without creating more heat.

Contact:

Joseph Heremans, (614) 247-8869, heremans.1@osu.edu
Roberto Myers, (614) 292-8439, myers.1079@osu.edu

On the Web: http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/thermospin.htm