NEC announced today that it succeeded in the world’s first simulation-based prediction of laser-induced photochemical reactions that can efficiently eject a hydrogen atom from a hydrogen chloride molecule trapped inside a carbon nanotube. The simulation was conducted on the Earth Simulator which NEC deployed for the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology. These results are expected to pave the way for the quantity synthesis of not only hydrogen, but also inexpensive materials through the facilitation of known photochemical reactions due to the laser pulse irradiation, as well as the development of new materials.
The Earth Simulator topped the HPC Challenge Award for Fast Fourier Transform performance at the SC10 supercomputing conference held in the United States in November 2010. The Earth Simulator demonstrated the world’s top-level computing efficiency, especially for complicated applications, including nanoscience, quest for new materials and weather prediction.