Our hyper-consumption of the internet and the rise of artificial intelligence pose a global problem of unsustainable increase in energy consumption. This is not reflected on your household bill since most of the processing occurs in the cloud, at data centres scattered around the world. The International Energy Agency projects that data centre’s electricity consumption will double in the next two years, towards 1,000 terawatt-hours, roughly 5 times Australia’s electricity consumption. Unfortunately, the current electronics technology already reached its peak efficiency; we need a new generation of devices that can perform the same processing tasks but use less energy.
Dr Estrecho’s research addresses this issue by studying polaritonic quantum fluids that can flow without resistance at room temperature. They can potentially replace electrons in our devices that unavoidably consume extra energy as they move, making electronics inherently energy inefficient. By examining and understanding the fundamental properties of these polariton quantum fluids, his research aims to unlock novel functionalities for low-energy applications and generation of quantum light crucial for future electronics and quantum technologies.
2024
Physics, Energy Consumption, Electronics, Quantum Fluids