Hector De Los Santos, the lead researcher, is based at the University of South Carolina, Ohio State University and the Georgia Institute of Technology. For more than ten years, he’s worked on a revolutionary strategy to computation based on plasmons. In 2024, he announced a fractional device showing the interplay of two plasmons. This accomplishment represents a kind of holy grail moment for plasmon-based logic. The new Y junction device is about five square microns. This breakthrough is an important step toward building powerful new computing systems.
Twelve years ago in 2010, De Los Santos introduced the novel idea of performing computations using plasmons. His inspiration had been from seeing the trajectory of CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) logic technology. He knew the shortcoming of advanced logic circuits based on the flow of currents. This realization only drove him further into exploring wave flows, innovative and less intrusive alternative. His research focuses on logic devices that can achieve higher performance while leveraging current fabrication methods.
The next stage of De Los Santos’ project will involve the fabrication of a full-scale device. This device itself will use two unusual controls that show great potential to increase the power of plasmon computing. He’s aware that this technology is a big departure from past paradigms, which poses the biggest challenge for understanding and acceptance.
The Mechanics Behind Plasmon Computing
De Los Santos’ device includes a one-of-a-kind Y junction. Affected by no control, this junction divides a plasmon into 2 counterparts of same electric field strength. This setup allows you to control one plasmon with another. You would be able to use a control plasmon to redirect the original bias plasmon into one of the legs of the Y junction. The operation requires a high-frequency direct current (DC) bias voltage between the metallic Y and the ground plane. This voltage creates an electron sea that’s static.
“The energy to excite a plasmon is on the order of attoJoules or less,” De Los Santos explained. While this efficiency is truly astounding, it needs to be considered in the context that it takes incredibly little energy to create the oscillations needed for plasmon computing.
He further elaborated on the speed of these disturbances, stating, “A disturbance propagates faster than a particle,” underscoring the rapid nature of plasmon movement. Plasmons travel in step with the electromagnetic waves responsible for their induction. BEAM Physics Very much like light, these soliton packets travel extremely fast—essentially at the speed of light in the medium.
Overcoming Challenges in Plasmon Technology
Even with the optimistic potential of his research, De Los Santos understands there are still huge hurdles to overcome. He noted, “I think the main challenge is that the technology doesn’t follow from today’s paradigm of logic devices based on current flows. This is based on wave flows.” This significant transition can be a challenge for those used to more classical computing paradigms.
Plasmon-based logic could mean a paradigm shift in how we compute. Engineers and researchers alike must adjust their expectations to realize what’s possible with this new paradigm. De Los Santos stressed that having a grasp of this new technology will be crucial for ensuring it can be best implemented into our current systems.
De Los Santos is looking to prove the entire apparatus with both sets of controls. He’s certainly inventing it to do so and to make that happen. “The next step would be to demonstrate and fabricate the full device, which would have the two controls,” he stated. His vision is to connect all the devices into an integrated system. Doing so will produce a full adder, an essential building block of computing logic.
Future Implications of Plasmon-Based Logic
De Los Santos’ work is not simply the byproduct of an academic exercise. It can, and it should be used in practical ways across all disciplines. So as energy efficiency grows ever more important in the development of new technologies, reins in the form of plasmons provides one promising avenue. “So just intrinsically, the way of operation is extremely fast and extremely low power compared to current technology,” he remarked.
The promise of low energy requirements is particularly compelling, as De Los Santos highlighted that “if there is no wave propagating, then there is no power dissipation.” This elusive quality, if unlocked, would enable dramatic energy savings in upcoming electronic devices.
As his research develops, De Los Santos continues to look for ways to develop partnerships with other scientists. He aims to provoke conversations that will further broaden the possibilities of what plasmon computing can do. Ideologically, he hopes to overcome the “not in my backyard” and other pushback from existing paradigms. We expect this approach to enable paradigm-shifting innovations in new logic devices.