Hector De Los Santos, a PhD IEEE Fellow, has worked over ten years developing innovative and diverse work in computing. Importantly, he is interested in harnessing plasmons to accelerate this game-changing concept. While his journey started back around 2009, the first formal proposal for this start of an innovative concept came in 2010. In 2024, De Los Santos and his collaborators produced a revolutionary Y-junction device. This groundbreaking new invention has the potential to completely change the world of independent logic devices.
This new camera, which is roughly the size of five squares microns, emphasizes the complex interaction of two plasmons against each other and is essential in the mechanism for plasmon-based logic. Paving new ground, De Los Santos’s research seeks to fill important gaps in today’s logic devices based on conventional current flows.
The Concept of Plasmon Computing
De Los Santos’s research interest in plasmon computing has to do with how to control plasmons, or charge disturbances. In his semiconductor-based device, two plasmons are allowed to take on the same character—as in both being positive or both being negative. The Y-junction device uses this odd quality to guide one plasmon with another. This unique capability allows it to change the flow direction into one or the other leg of the Y. This mechanism converts into binary outputs, providing a zero or a one.
“But in my opinion, the usual approaches are just doomed, for two reasons. First, they are not reversible, meaning information is lost in the computation, which results in energy loss. Second, as the devices shrink energy dissipation increases, posing an insurmountable barrier. In contrast, plasmon computation is inherently reversible, and there is no fundamental reason it should dissipate any energy during switching.” – Hector De Los Santos
“I began to think, ‘How can we solve this problem of improving the performance of logic devices while using the same fabrication techniques employed for CMOS—that is, while exploiting the current infrastructure?’”
He found his inspiration in fluidic logic—a technology in which fluids are used to complete logic functions. This set him down the path of proposing an analogous method using localized electron charge density waves in place of the fluids.
Overcoming Challenges in Plasmon Technology
Though De Los Santos’s breakthroughs in plasmon computing design a bright future, he’s not naïve to the challenges ahead. The technology represents a departure from traditional logic devices rooted in current flows and based instead on wave flows. As such, individuals accustomed to traditional computing paradigms may find it difficult to grasp the concepts behind this new technology.
“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. People are accustomed to other things, and it may be difficult to understand the device.” – Hector De Los Santos
De Los Santos made sure to highlight the cross disciplinary path his work has taken. As he noted, modeling plasmon-based devices involves advanced knowledge of everything from metal-oxide-semiconductor physics, electromagnetic waves to quantum field theory. He argues that closing this knowledge gap is essential for broader acceptance and understanding of plasmon technology.
The Path Forward
De Los Santos has already proved an initial device, picturing the way two plasmons collide. Now, he’s turning his attention to the next steps to take his research further. The near-term objective is to complete the full Y-junction device fabrication incorporating both control mechanisms. Building on this success, next he aims to string these devices together to create a full adder—the very building block of computing logic.
“I demonstrated the partial device, that is just the interaction of two plasmons. The next step would be to demonstrate and fabricate the full device, which would have the two controls. And after that gets done, the next step is concatenating them to create a full adder because that is the fundamental computing logic component.” – Hector De Los Santos
In this long-shot, ambitious ride, De Los Santos sees a world where energy-saving, high-performance computing is the new normal. He asserts that by harnessing plasmons for computation, it is possible to achieve speeds and efficiencies that far surpass current technologies.
“Going back to the analogy of throwing the pebble on the pond: It takes very, very low energy to create this kind of disturbance. The energy to excite a plasmon is on the order of attoJoules or less.” – Hector De Los Santos
This paradigm, which is full of potential for groundbreaking application and innovation, upends the status quo established among computing technology favoring entrenched incumbents.