Current computing is based on binary logic -- zeroes and
ones -- also called Boolean computing, but a new type of computing architecture
stores information in the frequencies and phases of periodic signals and could
work more like the human brain using a fraction of the energy necessary for
today's computers, according to a team of engineers.
Vanadium dioxide is called a "wacky oxide" because
it transitions from a conducting metal to an insulating semiconductor and vice
versa with the addition of a small amount of heat or electrical current. A
device created by electrical engineers at Penn State uses a thin film of
vanadium oxide on a titanium dioxide substrate to create an oscillating switch.