$20 Million Requested for Quantum Computing Research

Moore’s Law dictates that computer processing power doubles approximately every 18 months. At some point in the next few years silicon transistors, which are made smaller each year to increase their processing power, will face a physical barrier. The next generation of processors will need to be made of carbon nanotubes or use quantum computing to continue advances in processing power. The NSF last week requested US$20 million from the U.S. government for fiscal 2009 to start the “Science and Engineering Beyond Moore’s Law” effort, which would fund academic research on technologies, including carbon nanotubes, quantum computing and massively multicore computers, that could improve and replace current transistor technology.