This image shows negative capacitance in action. Within the ferroelectric layer at the top of the image, the core region has a higher energy than other regions. This is where the local permitivity is negative. (Credit: Pablo Garcia Fernandez & Javier Junquera, Universidad de Cantabria)
ASCENT co-director, Prof. Sayeef Salahuddin (UC Berkeley Electrical Engineering and Computer Science) has led the effort in capturing an image of negative capacitance in action. "Spatially resolved steady-state negative capacitance" published in Nature on Jan 14, demonstrates that "If properly harnessed, the phenomenon could make computers more energy efficient." Included among the listing of many authors, ASCENT PI's Ramamoorthy Ramesh (UC Berkeley) and Asif Khan (Georgia Tech).