http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/ptech/02/11/intel.optics.ap/index.html Silicon discovery could speed up PCs
Intel innovation may help eliminate data jams
<snip>The Intel researchers built a device called a modulator, which switches light into patterns that translate into the ones and zeros of the digital world.
A light beam was split into two as it passed through the silicon, which has tiny transistor-like devices that alter light. When the beams are recombined and exit the silicon, the light goes on and off at a frequency of 1 gigahertz, or a billion times a second.
Infrared light is used because it can pass through silicon.
"Just as Superman's X-ray vision allows him to see through walls, if you had infrared vision, you could see through silicon," said Mario Paniccia, a study author and director of Intel's silicon photonics research. "This makes it possible to route light in silicon, and it is the same wavelength typically used for optical communications."
The researchers expect to be able to increase the frequency to 10 gigahertz, making the technology commercially viable, said Victor Krutul, senior manager of Intel's silicon photonics technology strategy.
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Stephen
Topic: Intel does It again. (Read 3524 times)