Aussie scientists shed light on faster, cheaper computers

Australian scientists have developed a silicon-embedded laser that will help speed up computer processing time.

The laser, developed by physicists from the University of Sydney, will replace the current system of transmitting data, using electronic signals over copper, with faster light pulses.

University of Sydney Associate Professor, David Moss, said the multiple wavelength laser will speed up processing and make computers cheaper.

“The on-chip light source will be the key to enabling the simultaneous transmission of multiple data channels either on-chip or between chips in a single optical fibre, each at a different wavelength,” he said in a statement.

“Currently, information on a chip is shuffled around using electronic signals over copper wires, or interconnects [and] we know that metal is prone to ‘choking’ on the bandwidth bottleneck.”

The discoveries, published in Moss’ paper CMOS-Compatible Integrated Optical Hyper-Parametric Oscillator, build on the existing knowledge of multiple wavelength sources so that they can be produced on a chip which could be integrated and fabricated with silicon computer chips.

Researchers say the devices’ low loss and highly flexible glass make it able to improve the power of computers, telecommunications equipment, high-precision broadband sensing and spectroscopy, molecular fingerprinting and attosecond physics.

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