Topological materials move electrons along their surface and edges without any loss, making them promising materials for dissipationless, high-efficiency electronics. Researchers are especially interested in using these materials as transistors, the backbone of all modern electronics. But there's a problem: Transistors switch electronic current on and off, but it's difficult to turn off the dissipationless flow of electrons in topological materials.
Now, Harvard University researchers have designed and simulated the first topological acoustic transistors—with sound waves instead of electrons—and proposed a connection architecture to form a universal logic gate that can switch the flow of sound on and off.
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