Missouri University physicists have developed a new device material that not only dissipates heat but also increases electronics’ battery life by a hundred-fold.
The team led by Associate Professor Deepak K. Singh have applied for a patent for their magnetic material which employs a unique honeycomb lattice structure exhibiting distinctive electronic properties.
According to Singh, semiconductor diodes and amplifiers, which often are made of silicon or germanium, are key elements in modern electronic devices.
A diode normally conducts current and voltage through the device along only one biasing direction, but when the voltage is reversed, the current stops.
Singh contends that it is this switching process that costs significant energy due to dissipation, or the depletion of the power source, thus affecting battery life.
The associate professor believes that his team’s endeavor of substituting the semiconductor with a magnetic system, could create an energetically effective device that consumes much less power with enhanced functionalities.
Singh’s team developed a two-dimensional, nanostructured material created by depositing a magnetic alloy, or permalloy, on the honeycomb structured template of a silicon surface. The new material conducts unidirectional current, or currents that only flow one way.
According to the researchers, the material also comes with less dissipative power when compared to a semiconducting diode, which is normally included in electronic devices.
This could in turn encourage electronic goods designers to increase the life of batteries by more than a hundred-fold. Less dissipative power in computer processors could also reduce the heat generated in laptop or desktop CPUs.
Image and content credits: Siemens/University of Missouri
