News & Comment

Enhancing the generality of multi-robot systems is critical for their deployment in open-world applications. Achieving this will require the development of general collective intelligence.

Biohybrid robots, which rely on living muscles to drive force generation, could be of use in applications ranging from microsurgery to unmanned exploration. But the development of untethered and autonomous machines will require the integration of onboard electronics for sensing, control and power.

Microscopic robots (microrobots) with integrated electronic chips have a range of potential medical, environmental and industrial applications. However, such systems have only recently become mass-producible, using either a body-first or a brain-first approach to fabrication.

Ingestible electronic devices could transform gastrointestinal medicine by combining diagnostic and therapeutic functions into a single miniature device. But challenges related to device miniaturization, power-efficient integrated circuit design and data security remain to be addressed.

Photodetectors based on emerging semiconductors such as quantum dots and perovskites have been under development for over two decades, but the use of diverse characterization methods and set-ups make it increasingly difficult to compare device performance. A more standardized approach to external quantum efficiency characterization is now essential.

Neuromorphic hardware has typically focused on accelerating vector–matrix multiplication, but broader and more disruptive approaches will be required to reimagine AI hardware.

With the International System of Units now linked to only physical constants, the groundwork has been laid for the development of a universal quantum electrical standard in which the volt, the ohm and the ampere are all realized within a single experiment. Success would simplify the traceability of electrical measurements to the units.

Submarine communication cables are central to the exchange of international data, but the vulnerability of the architecture has become increasingly apparent in recent years. The development of a diversified global communications infrastructure is now essential.

Superconducting qubits could be used to build a fault-tolerant quantum computer. But such a device will require millions of components, and various fundamental challenges remain to be addressed. Success will depend on sustained collaboration between industry and academia.

The development of transistors based on two-dimensional semiconductors requires a consistent approach to calculating and evaluating quantum contact resistances.

Large-scale control electronics, operating at cryogenic temperatures, are needed to run practical quantum computers. But scaling such electronics means addressing substantial challenges related to power consumption.

The potential value of quantum computing remains uncertain, which creates substantial risks for any quantum computing start-up. But the successes and failures seen so far in the quantum innovation ecosystem hold lessons for the field.

Technologies based on graphene and other two-dimensional materials are being commercialized in a number of areas, including electronics. But, as work on the Graphene Flagship illustrates, challenges in the scale-up and industrialization of graphene remain to be solved.

The complexity of the infrastructure underpinning the modern Internet has led to a lack of clarity on how to measure the energy consumption of web services and achieve sustainable web design. It is now crucial to redirect sustainability efforts in the sector towards more effective interventions.

Hall effect measurements are important in determining the electronic properties of emerging semiconductor materials, but care must be taken in their use and analysis.

Heterogeneous integration of chips in three-dimensional systems will be needed to meet increasing global demands for computing power.

The three-dimensional integration of electronic and photonic integrated circuits could solve critical input/output limitations in existing computing chips, and create larger, more complex chips for application in future data centres and high-performance systems.

Two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors could be used to build advanced 3D chips based on monolithic 3D integration. But challenges related to growing single-crystalline materials at low temperatures — as well as enhancing the performance of 2D transistors — need to be addressed first.

Three-dimensional technology — which can offer enhanced integration density and improved data communication — will be required to build large-scale artificial computing systems inspired by the brain.

Wearable sweat sensors could be used to monitor patients with heart failure, providing a route to personalized and automated patient management in hospitals and at home.