Phonics, like photonics (using light), uses sound waves to process data. Researchers from the University of Arizona and Sandia National Laboratory have reached a major milestone in this field. By combining special materials, they created strong interactions between phonons (sound particles).
This paves the way for smaller, more efficient wireless devices. Currently, smartphones use lots of filters to convert radio waves into sound waves (and vice versa), which requires large components. Phonons offer a single-chip solution that reduces device size by a factor of potentially 100.
It works like this: Phonons that normally do not interact with each other can be made to interact intensely in specially designed materials. This enables functions such as signal mixing that could previously only be accomplished with transistors.
The consequences of this are huge. Smaller, more powerful cell phones and communications devices with better coverage and longer battery life are on the horizon.
Source: Ferra
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