Scientists including an Oregon State University chemistry researcher have taken a key step toward next-generation optical computing and memory with the discovery of luminescent nanocrystals that can be quickly toggled from light to dark and back again.
"The extraordinary switching and memory capabilities of these nanocrystals may one day become integral to optical computing -- a way to rapidly process and store information using light particles, which travel faster than anything in the universe," said Artiom Skripka, assistant professor in the OSU College of Science. "Our findings have the potential to advance artificial intelligence and information technologies generally."
Published in Nature Photonics, the study by Skripka and collaborators at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Columbia University and the Autonomous University of Madrid involves a type of material known as avalanching nanoparticles.
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