A new international study led by Dr. Qing-Tai Zhao suggests that future electronics might run better at extremely low temperatures, leading to a potential 80% reduction in energy use through 'cryogenic computing.'
Cooling computer chips to near absolute zero could significantly reduce the energy required for transistors to turn on and off, resulting in energy savings of up to 80% even after accounting for the energy needed to maintain the cold temperatures.
However, challenges arise at such low temperatures, including energy leakage due to imperfections in chip materials and quantum effects like electrons tunneling through barriers, which limit the full efficiency potential of cold computing.
Engineers are exploring new materials and technologies to design 'cold super-transistors' optimized for low-temperature operation, which could revolutionize data centers, quantum computing, and space exploration with powerful and energy-efficient computing systems.