Researchers help create "brain-inspired computing architecture"

An international team of scientists including researchers from the University of Limerick in Ireland has discovered a new molecule that can further improve the ultra-fast decision-making capabilities of computers

This energy-saving discovery creates a new type of computing architecture that may have a significant impact in various fields from financial decision-making to bioinformatics

The research team of the UL Bernal Institute in the United States found that a simple molecule composed of 77 atoms provides a new basic electronic circuit element, in which complex logic is encoded in nano-scale material properties

By optimizing the electrical properties of soft crystals grown from molecules, this new type of brain-inspired computing structure can be realized

This discovery has just been published in the world's leading "Nature" magazine

Damien Thompson (Damien Thompson) is a professor of physics at UL.

He showed that this molecule uses the natural asymmetry of its metal-organic bonds to make clean transitions between different states, which allows it to perform ultra-fast decisions

Scientists supported by the Irish Science Foundation explained: "In this new device, all work is done in one place, so there is no need to read or move information all the time

"This eliminates the'von Neumann bottleneck', which has plagued computing from the beginning, and it still hinders the development of technology

"We are excited about these possibilities because these devices show all the characteristics of brain computing

Professor Thompson added: "New circuit components can provide smaller, faster, and more energy-efficient computers, which are exactly what is needed for edge computing, Internet of Things and artificial intelligence applications

These metal-organic molecules were synthesized by collaborators of the Indian Science Cultivation Association (IACS) in Kolkata and made into films at the National University of Singapore.

Professor Luuk van der Wielen, Director of Bernal Research Institute and Professor of Engineering and Design of Bernal Biosystems, expressed his delight at the major breakthrough that UL scientists have participated in

"This high-impact research reinforces the UL Bernal Institute’s ambition to influence the world based on top science in the context of increasing internationalization

Professor Seán Arkins, Dean of the UL School of Science and Engineering, said: "Researchers in the UL Physics Department continue to pioneer the development of organic materials in electrical applications.

Original search:

DOI

10.
1038 / s41586-021-03748-0

Decision trees within a molecular memristor'