Technology Research News (TRN) has an interesting article about chips that use light signals rather than electricity. In their July28/August 4 issue, Eric Smalley talks about the progress made with the dawn of the photonic crystal, a material that is able to block and channel light within extremely tiny spaces.
The article talks about research being carried at MIT and Kyoto University on making such photonic crystal chips. The process can be quite intricate, as it involves making these 3D-devices that can emit light from specific points, while being manufactured in the mass-production fashion. One of the end goals is the all-optical computer processor. However, other applications can include bio and chemical sensors, optical memory, and quantum communications.
But while these fine research institutions are further refining these processes, an article that appeared in April suggest that scientists at Intel Israel are very close to achieving the same goal of developing electro-optical chipsets. In this case, they are based on silicon wafers capable of converting electronic signals to optic signals within the chip. The joint CEO of Intel Israel, Amir Elstein, claims that the switches will be able to operate at 10GHz. By allowing the communication to happen at the speed of light, communication will be made possible at roughly 10 times the current speed.
Note: The original article, which appeared in the Israeli newspaper Ha'Aretz, is no longer available (I even tried the Google cache). However, I did find a reprint available here.
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