Superconducting microchips need to work in an ultra-low temperature environment. Although a large amount of energy is consumed to provide cooling and cooling for the chip, the overall energy consumption is greatly reduced compared with traditional chips.
A few days ago, researchers at Yokohama National University in Japan developed a microchip prototype “MANA” that applies superconductor devices. The chip has the characteristics of superconducting materials that have close to zero resistance in a low temperature environment, and its energy efficiency is 80 times that of top semiconductor devices in today’s high-performance computing chips.
The new invention, called the “Adiabatic Quantum Flux Parameterizer” (AQFP), assembles microchips that can achieve ultra-low power consumption while maintaining high performance, suitable for next-generation data centers and communication networks.
It is reported that the original intention of the team to develop superconductor microchips is to reduce the huge energy consumption caused by data operations.
According to Christopher Ayala, associate professor at Yokohama National University in Japan, “In the information age, digital communication infrastructure is crucial, and its energy consumption accounts for almost 10% of global electricity. The computing hardware in large data centers or the electronically driven equipment in communication networks, digital communication infrastructure will consume up to more than 50% of global electricity consumption by 2030.”
Such huge power consumption is not only unbearable for users, but also a huge burden on the environment.
In this regard, the research team said: “AQFP is a superconducting Electronic device, and only when the chip temperature is lowered to 4.2K (ie -268.95°C) can AQFP enter the superconducting state. However, even if the energy consumption of cooling is counted , AQFP is still 80 times more energy efficient than the top semiconductor devices in today’s high-performance computing chips.”
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