The high demand for speed and volume limits traditional
microprocessor chips that use electrical circuits to communicate and transfer
information. That could be about to change as researchers work on a chip that uses
light instead.
The light-based technology, known as photonics, reduces
the energy used in a microchip because light can travel over longer distances
using the same amount of power, according to a report in The Economic Times. The new chips have the potential to create faster and
more powerful computing systems.
The new microchip has a bandwidth density of 300
gigabits per second per square millimeter, which is at least 10 times greater
than current electric microchips. It also incorporates the optical input/output
components of current state-of-the-art electronic circuitry, creating an
integrated, single-chip design.
“Light-based
integrated circuits could lead to radical changes in computing and network chip
architecture in applications ranging from smartphones to supercomputers to
large data centers, something computer architects have already begun work on in
anticipation of the arrival of this technology,” said Milos Popovic, assistant
professor at the University of Colorado-Boulder.