CHIPMAKER Intel says its boffins are working out a way of using a laser to replace electrical current as the way to move data.
Under Chipzilla's big idea, a laser with a single silicon chip attached emits a focused stream of light that can be manipulated to carry vast amounts of data at high speeds.
A spokesChipzilla said that stage one of the cunning plan, the construction of the all-silicon laser, is complete all they are waiting for the storm clouds to surround the castle and a handy bolt of lightning to spark it to life.
It is a Ben Franklin situation.
Mario Paniccia, director of Intel's photonics lab told the Science magazine Nature that using silicon as an optical material made it possible to take advantage of the enormous silicon infrastructure that exists around the world. You can imagine starting to siliconise photonic devices, and maybe integrate photonics and electronics, he enthused.
Paniccia said that silicon lasers also could be mass produced, using the same equipment as standard chips. Next stage is to produce a laser chip that can emits a continuous beam which is a better pipe to stick communications down. The whole light fantastic can be found
here
Source:
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