Chemistry and Electronics Unite to Mimic the Brain
Researchers all over the world are constantly trying to troubleshoot and find a way to implement how computers can become like a human brain. The human brain is something that needs very limited energy, yet is very rapid and works under flexible conditions. Achieving this needs an amalgamation of two trendy fields, i.e., electronics and chemistry. One step to achieve this objective is attained by a research team from IISC for this connection.
The researchers have created tiny molecular devices that can change how they behave electronically depending on the signals they receive. In simple terms, these devices can adapt, much like how brain cells respond to different situations. One of the scientists involved in the study explained that this kind of adaptability is very rare in traditional electronic materials, which usually perform only fixed functions.
The flexibility is due to the use of a unique chemical substance in the research. The team named that special compound as ruthenium complexes. But should be careful in handling them as they are extremely sensitive to even a small bit of change. A slight difference or change in even their compositions and orientation that changes their ionic environment can alter the main objective, which is a change in how electrons move through it. As a result, the exact same molecular device can behave differently in different environmental conditions.
This means that a single material can both store information and process it at the same time. In today’s computers, memory and computation usually happen in separate parts. Combining them into one material is a major step forward. It allows learning and memory to be built directly into the hardware itself, much like how learning happens in the brain.
This type of advancing tech can be taken up and then lead towards the direction of AI chips that work with a minimal amount of energy and yet are built with automated intelligence similar to human brains. So, rather than the dependency of software to be installed could be directly implemented by materials.
This type of advancing tech can be taken up and then lead towards the direction of AI chips that work with a minimal amount of energy and yet are built with automated intelligence similar to human brains. So, rather than the dependency of software to be installed could be directly implemented by materials.
The IISc researchers are now focusing on placing these chemical materials onto silicon chips, which are already used in modern electronics. Their long-term goal is to build future computing systems that are inspired by how the brain works.
Generally, chemistry is regarding supply of chemicals, but here one of the authors referred to it as not regarding the supply of materials. This is like the future of how to shape computation, and chemistry acting as a designer of computing systems in the near future.
