<p>Imagine a computer that does not required to be 'powered on' all the time to protect your data and can work fine even on 'normally off' mode?<br /><br /></p>.<p>This would result in eliminating volatile memory, which requires power to maintain stored data, and reducing the gigantic energy losses associated with it - radically altering computer architectures and consumer electronics.<br /><br />A spintronics-based technology by Japanese researchers may replace volatile memory and enable extremely energy-efficient, hand-cranked or solar-powered devices.<br /><br />Most parts of present computers are made with volatile devices such as transistors and dynamic random access memory (DRAM), which loses information when powered off.<br /><br />So computers are designed on the premise that power is "normally on".<br /><br />Now, Koji Ando and his colleagues at the Japanese National Projects have broadly envisioned the future of spin-transfer torque magnetoresistive random access memory (STT-MRAM) technology to create a new type of computer: a "normally off" one.<br /><br />Spintronics couples magnetism with electronics at the quantum mechanical level. "Indeed, STT-MRAM no longer requires an electromagnetic coil for both writing and reading information. We are excited by this paradigm shift and are working on developing a variety of technologies for next-generation electronics devices," Ando explained.<br /><br />If STT-MRAM is to play a key role for 'normally off' computers, it would first require the integration of a variety of technologies.<br /><br />"We are currently collaborating with researchers in several fields - from materials science, device technology, circuit technology, memory and computer architectures, operating systems," Ando informed.<br /><br />The potential for redesigning present-day technologies so that computer power consumption is zero during any short intervals when users are absent is that may lead to extremely energy-efficient personal devices powered by a hand-crank or embedded solar panel.<br /><br />Such devices would find use in a wide swath of applications ranging from mobile computing to wearable or embedded electronics, said the research published in the Journal of Applied Physics.</p>
<p>Imagine a computer that does not required to be 'powered on' all the time to protect your data and can work fine even on 'normally off' mode?<br /><br /></p>.<p>This would result in eliminating volatile memory, which requires power to maintain stored data, and reducing the gigantic energy losses associated with it - radically altering computer architectures and consumer electronics.<br /><br />A spintronics-based technology by Japanese researchers may replace volatile memory and enable extremely energy-efficient, hand-cranked or solar-powered devices.<br /><br />Most parts of present computers are made with volatile devices such as transistors and dynamic random access memory (DRAM), which loses information when powered off.<br /><br />So computers are designed on the premise that power is "normally on".<br /><br />Now, Koji Ando and his colleagues at the Japanese National Projects have broadly envisioned the future of spin-transfer torque magnetoresistive random access memory (STT-MRAM) technology to create a new type of computer: a "normally off" one.<br /><br />Spintronics couples magnetism with electronics at the quantum mechanical level. "Indeed, STT-MRAM no longer requires an electromagnetic coil for both writing and reading information. We are excited by this paradigm shift and are working on developing a variety of technologies for next-generation electronics devices," Ando explained.<br /><br />If STT-MRAM is to play a key role for 'normally off' computers, it would first require the integration of a variety of technologies.<br /><br />"We are currently collaborating with researchers in several fields - from materials science, device technology, circuit technology, memory and computer architectures, operating systems," Ando informed.<br /><br />The potential for redesigning present-day technologies so that computer power consumption is zero during any short intervals when users are absent is that may lead to extremely energy-efficient personal devices powered by a hand-crank or embedded solar panel.<br /><br />Such devices would find use in a wide swath of applications ranging from mobile computing to wearable or embedded electronics, said the research published in the Journal of Applied Physics.</p>