November 27, 2009
Electrical semiconductors are standard in the production of microprocessors and computer chips, however one group of experts believe that devices based on optics could still be a possibility.
Vladimir Stojanovic and Rajeev Ram, who work at the Research Laboratory of Electronics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said that a successful demonstration of the technology could convince manufacturers.
The scientists have already shown that working optical components can be placed onto the same chip, but hope to soon prove that they can also control photons to create a data transfer mechanism.
"If you just focus on the processor itself, you maybe get a four-times advantage with photonics. But if you focus on the whole connectivity problem, we´re talking ten, 20-times improvements in system performance," Professor Stojanovic said.
A group of researchers at the University of Colorado recently spoke to PhysOrg.com about their hopes to develop optical transistors out of single atoms, erasing the need for semiconductors.
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