Reinventing the microchip could yield a generation of computers that use much less energy (Image:Image Source/Rex)
MICROCHIPS that process information without moving electrons could lead to a new generation of ultra-low-power computers. That is the promise behind a processor that uses waves rather than current to crunch digital data.
In conventional computer chips, information is processed in the form of electric charges and transmitted by physically moving electrons from one place to another. This approach has been hugely successful, with engineers packing ever-increasing numbers of transistors onto a single chip.
But Moore’s law, as this trend is called, is…
