Korean Research Offers Hope of Cutting PC Boot-Up Time

Korean Research Offers Hope of Cutting PC Boot-Up Time

Korean scientists have developed technology that will allow computers to be switched on without the long, tedious booting time. A research team led by Chang Joon-yeon and Koo Hyun-cheol at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology said Thursday they developed a so-called "spin-injected field effect transistor" that can use not only the flow of electrons but also the spinning direction of electrons as computerized information for the first time in the world. Their work is published in Science Magazine on Friday.

"After the theory of spintronics and use of semiconductor in the field emerged in 1990 in the United States, many countries tried to develop technologies to put the theory into practice with a commercial prospect," the team said. "But this is the first time that a spin electron device that can be electrically operated was developed. The repercussions of commercial production throughout information industry would be huge. It will then be possible to turn on a computer without going through the long booting process, and put memory and CPU in one chip."

The researchers have applied for a patent in the U.S., Europe and Japan.

englishnews@chosun.com / Sep. 18, 2009 11:53 KST
http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2009/09/18/2009091800648.html