As we approach the miniaturization limits of conventional electronics, alternatives to silicon-based transistors -- the building blocks of the multitude of electronic devices we've come to rely on -- are being hotly pursued.
nspired by the way living organisms have evolved in nature to perform complex tasks with remarkable ease, a group of researchers from Durham University in the U.K. and the University of São Paulo-USP in Brazil is exploring similar "evolutionary" methods to create information processing devices.
In the Journal of Applied Physics, from AIP Publishing, the group describes using single-walled carbon nanotube composites (SWCNTs) as a material in "unconventional" computing. By studying the mechanical and electrical properties of the materials, they discovered a correlation between SWCNT concentration/viscosity/conductivity and the computational capability of the composite.
"Instead of creating circuits from arrays of discrete components (transistors in digital electronics), our work takes a random disordered material and then 'trains' the material to produce a desired output," said Mark K. Massey, research associate, School of Engineering and Computing Sciences at Durham University.
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