NTT Research and Development 2009 Review of Activities

Overview

The present semiconductor-based computers perform calculations by controlling the "electron flow" in each device. In contrast, we developed a system that controls the oscillations of tiny mechanical elements, called beams. The bit information is stored as phases of oscillations, and calculations are performed by transferring the information from beam to beam. The energy dissipated by the mechanical oscillation is extremely small, so the system is expected to be power efficient.

Features

• Each mechanical element is a 250 µm-long, 85 µm-wide, and 1.4 µm-thick beam
• The bit information is stored as an oscillation with an amplitude of 10^-8 m
• Piezoelectricity enables all electrical operation on a semiconductor chip
• Parametron* uses a nanomechanical resonator instead of an electrical resonator
• The energy to maintain the oscillation is 10^-13 W and can be further reduced by reducing the size of the beam

Application scenarios

• Highly energy-efficient computer systems
• Ubiquitous systems requiring low power consumption
• Integration with highly sensitive MEMS sensors and optical devices

• * Parametron: A computer system developed by E. Goto about 50 years ago. The bit information is processed as the phase in an electrical oscillator.