-EU-funded, Consortium of corporate research Europe-based organizations, major research institutes and universities
Researchers apply nanotechnology and low power consumption, costs, and battery life of electronic devices
Target voltage less than 0.5 volts, thereby reducing power consumption by an order of magnitude
LAUSANNE, Switzerland - 27 October 2010: today, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne and IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced a major research initiative, with several leading academic and corporate research organisations across Europe to the alarming increase of energy consumption by electronic devices from mobile phones to laptops, to address TV to supercomputers.The research project, called steep aims to eliminate these devices when active, efficiency energy power if you're in passive mode or standby mode by 10 times and practically.
Coordinated by the Federal Institute of technology de Lausanne (EPFL), project contains steeper leading corporate research organisations IBM Research - Zurich, Infineon and GLOBALFOUNDRIES * large research institutions CEA LETI and Forschungszentrum Julich, academic partners, University of Bologna, University Dortmund, University of Udine and the University of Pisa and the administrative support of SCIPROM.
Scientists working on the project is your expertise and your research for tunnel field effect transistors (TFETs) and semiconducting nanowires, the efficient use of energy in electronics to improve the challenge a leaky Wasserhahn-should tell-even if the valve to close, as far as possible dripping water weiterhin-- this is similar to today's transistor, in energy, constantly "leaky" lost or wasted when turned off.In steep, scientists not only hope, contain the leak by using a new method to close the valve or gate of the transistor firmly, but also open and close the door for maximum flow with less curves, i.e. less voltage for maximum efficiency.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), electronic devices currently power consumption is 15 percent budget and information and communication technologies and consumer electronics consumed energy will double by 2022 and triple 2030 to 1,700 Tera hour-this is just all responsible living total electricity consumption of the United States and Japan 2009(1).
The enormous amount of standby Verbrauch.Verwenden is especially wasteful in the European Union, it is estimated that standby power already for about 10 percent of the current accounts in homes and offices of the States(2)-Members.2020, It is expected that power consumption in standby mode/off mode almost synonymous will increase hours per year - 49 Terrawatt with annual power consumption for Austria, Czech Republic and Portugal combined(3).
"Our vision is to enable this research manufacturer uses Holy Grail in electronics to create the negligible energy, a computer if it in sleep mode, which we call the NULL Watt PC, to share", said Prof. Adrian M. Ionescu, nano lab, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, who coordinated the project.With the support of the European seventh framework programme (FP7) nanoscale devices for computer chips designed explore project of steeper researchers novel the operating voltage of less than 0.5 volts, allowing to reduce your energy consumption by an order of magnitude.
"" Power has become a major challenge for today's electronics as global, multiplied by the number of devices used by businesses and consumers"said who leads the nanoscale Electronics Group at IBM Research - Zurich Dr. Heike Riel.""Using our collective research in TFETs with semiconducting Nanowires that we want to significantly reduce the power consumption of the basic building blocks of integrated circuits, the smallest consumer electronics influence to massive, supercomputers."
The support of science
The development of innovative devices, such as the steep slope transistors from which it gets its name, provide a much more abrupt transition between the off and States compared with the current 60mV/decade limit of metal-oxide-semiconductor field - effect transistor (MOSFET) at room temperature.
This energy-efficient allows development at the same time to reduce the Sub-thresholds leaks and reduction of voltage Vorgangs.Die sub-thresholds transistors steep slope, on sub work can 0, 5V operation domain will be a critical factor in the success of the project.
To achieve this, scientists are studying the development of the so-called TFETs, silicon-based semiconducting (SI), Silicon Germanium (SiGe) and III-V Nanowires. Nanowires are cylindrical structures measuring only a few nanometers (nm) in diameter, the optimal electrostatic control of the transistor channel to allow in a TFET quantum mechanical band-to-tape is tunneling used to switch the system and to achieve a steeper turn on features compared to conventional MOSFETs.
Project steeper will assess efficient digital circuits the physical and practical limits of improving performance TFETs with III V nanowires and the resulting benefits for future energy.
The project started in June 2010 and will also continue for 36 months.
Sources:
(1) Gadgets and gigawatt, International Energy Agency (IEA), guidelines for energy efficient electronics, 424 pp., ISBN 978-92-64-05953-5
(2) European Commission Joint Research Centre, Institute for energy, European code of conduct for ICT
(3) Power consumption and efficiency trends in the European Union, report 2009, JRC-IE
Participation at steep is still pending for GLOBALFOUNDRIES
