Nov 10 2014
Image Credit: sl_photo / Shutterstock.com
Researchers have developed a new material which can control light in order to deliver and process computer information. This discovery can increase the speed and power of computer processing in the near future.
The research was a joint effort between the University of Surrey, the University of Southampton, and the University of Cambridge. The researchers found that by using an ion doping technique, the electronic characteristics of amorphous chalcogenides can be changed in order to create a novel material, which is capable of using light to collate different computing functions into a single component.
As data sources depend on optical systems, optical fibres are typically used in the fast transfer of data. However once these signals reach a computer, they have to be changed into electrical signals which tend to slow down the processing speed considerably.
The new material can overcome this issue by using light to transfer and interpret optical data around a computer at increased speed, thus resulting in an all-optical system.
The researchers anticipate that their study results will be applied in computers within the next 10 years. Meanwhile, the glass is being utilised in CRAM, an advanced computer memory technology, which may be possibly combined with the latest results.
"This has eluded researchers for decades, but now we have now shown how a widely used glass can be manipulated to conduct negative electrons, as well as positive charges, creating what are known as 'pn-junction' devices. This should enable the material to act as a light source, a light guide and a light detector - something that can carry and interpret optical information. In doing so, this could transform the computers of tomorrow, allowing them to effectively process information at much faster speeds." said Dr Richard Curry of the University of Surrey.
The study was published in the journal Nature Communications.