Thermal diodes, transistors and logic: Review of unconventional computing methods.

Area of Science:

• Unconventional computing
• Thermal engineering
• Materials science

Background:

• Traditional electronic computing systems dominate but are energy-intensive.
• Significant global energy is lost as waste heat during conversion processes.
• Thermal computing offers a paradigm shift by utilizing heat as a computational element.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the emerging field of thermal computing, focusing on memory devices and logic gates.
• To analyze the engineering applicability and real-world integration of thermal computing technologies.
• To assess the potential of harnessing waste thermal energy for computational advancements.

Main Methods:

• Review of thermal memory devices and logic gates based on heat transfer mechanisms.
• Evaluation of device performance metrics: data retention, distinct states, read/write speeds, and scalability.
• Technology readiness assessment of thermal computing devices for practical applications.

Main Results:

• Radiative Thermal Transistors outperformed other memory devices by 9.4%.
• NanoThermoMechanical logic gates outperformed other logic devices by 27%.
• Identified potential applications in self-powered systems, extreme environments, and server farms.

Conclusions:

• Thermal computing presents a viable path to revolutionize computational models and information science.
• Further advancements are needed to transition thermal computing from theoretical concepts to practical tools.
• Thermal computing devices, with hysteresis and bistability, offer stable, efficient alternatives to electronic systems.