Abstracts (plenary speakers)

 

Straintronics: Strain-switched Nanomagnets for Digital and Analog Applications

Supriyo Bandyopadhyay
Commonwealth Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA USA

Abstract

The search for a digital switch that is more energy-efficient than a transistor and hence more amenable to prolonging Moore’s law has recently lead to the notion of a bistable nanomagnetic device that is switched between two stable magnetization states with electrically generated mechanical strain. Logic gates (inverters, Bennett clocked gates, etc.) and memory, predicated on this technology, have been demonstrated in our group. While they indeed dissipate very little energy to operate, their drawback is the high switching error probability which hinders their applications in Boolean computing. They can, however, still be used in applications that are more forgiving of switching errors, e.g. probabilistic (non-Boolean) computing, analog arithmetic circuits, belief networks, artificial neurons, restricted Boltzmann machines, image processors, and ternary content addressable memory. Additionally, they can also be used for non-computing devices such as microwave oscillators that perform better than traditional spin torque nano-oscillators, and even extreme sub-wavelength acoustic and electromagnetic antennas whose radiation efficiencies are relatively unencumbered by their extreme sub-wavelength dimensions. This talk will describe some of these advances.

 

This work has been supported by the US National Science Foundation under grants ECCS-1124714, CCF-1216614, ECCS-1609303 and CCF-1815303, by the State of Virginia and Virginia Commonwealth University. Some of this work was carried out in collaboration with Prof. Jayasimha Atulasimha of Virginia Commonwealth University and Prof. Amit Ranjan Trivedi of the University of Illinois at Chicago.

 


Compound semiconductors and their role in future 6G applications

Dr. Nadine Collaert
imec

Abstract:

With 5G in full deployment, first white papers and articles on 6G are already appearing, showing how the industry needs are driving fast towards more, faster, and more intelligent connectivity. Ten times higher data rates than 5G (>100Gbps), extreme low power and low latency, instantaneous transfer of large amounts of data, Artificial Intelligence (AI) empowered networks, massive coverage and new ideas on how to connect with devices and even our brain are only a few of the concepts that are being considered for 6G. But are we ready to take the next leap? And what innovations at the technology side would be needed to realize this exciting vision of an intelligently connected world?

In this talk, we will focus on the technology challenges to enable next generations of wireless communication, 5G and 6G, and how compound semiconductor devices could play a key role in enabling ultra-fast, reliable and power-efficient connectivity.

 


Phonons and photons in thermo-functional materials for passive cooling

Juliana Jaramillo-Fernandez1,2 and Clivia M. Sotomayor-Torres1,3

  1. Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), CSIC and BIST, Bellaterra, Spain;
  2. Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, Spain.
  3. ICREA, Barcelona, Spain

Abstract

Phonons, the quasi-particles carriers of heat and sound, are involved in practically all kind of mechanical, optical, and thermal phenomena. Using modern nano and microfabrication techniques, phonons can be engineered to interact resonantly with photons to reveal new properties with potential impact on society. This is the case of radiative cooling, which involves decreasing the temperature of a body by emitting infrared radiation, without using electricity or any other kind of extra energy input. Radiative cooling technologies constitute attractive solutions to reduce the intensive electricity consumption of modern cooling technologies, and they are of particular interest in views of the increasing cooling needs due to global warming.

In this talk, we will provide an introduction to the state-of-the art and a detailed summary of recent progress in this research field. The recent work in our institute on self-assembled 2D thermofuctional materials[1] will be presented and remaining questions and challenges for real-world applications will be discussed. The major achievements will be summarised and trends in nanophononics and nanophotonics relevant to passive cooling illustrated. Finally, an insight into the possibilities of using these emerging technologies at very-large scale will be given, where they could have a very positive environmental impact.

 

[1] Juliana Jaramillo-Fernandez,* Guy L. Whitworth, Jose Angel Pariente, Alvaro Blanco,

Pedro D. Garcia, Cefe Lopez, and Clivia M. Sotomayor-Torres. “A Self‐Assembled 2D Thermofunctional Material for Radiative Cooling.” Small (2019): 1905290.

 


Top-down meets bottom-up: Way to explore the plentiful room at the bottom

Osamu Tabata, Fellow, IEEE
Kyoto University of Advanced Science

Abstract

In 1982 two papers in particular were published. One is recognized as the bible of Silicon micromachining, which is a typical top-down approach to miniaturization, and the other is known as the origin of DNA nanotechnology, which is a typical bottom-up approach to realizing nanoscale objects. Almost 40 years later the former is still the key to MEMS and the latter is the key to molecular machines. Both of these are recognized as powerful technologies and yet there remains a significant gap between them.

In this talk I begin by introducing the historical aspects of these two approaches to exploring the world at micro and nano scales. I then survey the current status of MEMS and DNA nanotechnology before discussing one challenging goal that remains to be addressed.

 


Droplet Microfluidics Technologies for Rapid Pathogen Identification and Susceptibility Testing

Tza-Huei (Jeff) Wang, Fellow IEEE
Mechanical Engineering & Biomedical Engineering Departments, Institute for NanoBioTechnoloy
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Abstract

The talk focuses on the development of droplet microfluidic-based molecular tests for pathogen identification (ID) and phenotypic antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST). First, I will talk about the “droplet magnetofluidics” technology that eliminates the need for large, complex instrumentation and fluidics typically associated with clinical laboratory nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT). We have demonstrated that droplet magnetofluidics facilitates streamlined capturing and purification of nucleic acids from clinical samples for PCR detection in a USB disk-sized cartridge with a turn-around time of < 30 min. Automated transport of the nucleic acids captured on magnetic particles through discrete droplets of reagents within the cartridge provides integration of sample preparation and nucleic acid detection. Our recently developed platforms have demonstrated clinically relevant sensitivity and specificity for Hepatitis C viral tests from patient blood and detection of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) from self-collected vaginal and urethral swab samples. Meanwhile, I will also introduce a rapid and integrated single-cell biosensing platform, termed dropFAST, for bacterial growth detection and antimicrobial susceptibility assessment. DropFAST utilizes a rapid resazurin-based fluorescent growth assay coupled with stochastic confinement of bacteria in 20 pL droplets to detect signal from growing bacteria after 1 h incubation, equivalent to 2–3 bacterial replications. Full integration of droplet generation, incubation, and detection into a single, uninterrupted stream also renders this platform uniquely suitable for in-line bacterial phenotypic growth assessment. To illustrate the concept of rapid digital antimicrobial susceptibility assessment, we employ the dropFAST platform for rapid AST of various pathogens associated with urinary tract infections (UTI) directly using urine samples.