The researchers at the University of Texas El Paso (UTEP) and at the University of Central Florida (UCF) created a device that controls light faster and more efficiently than ever before and it will be the key to the next generation of light-based supercomputers.
This device resembles a plastic honeycomb and yet infinitely smaller than a bee's stinger, it can steer light beams around tighter curves than ever before possible, while keeping the integrity and intensity of the beam intact.This device opens up a way for rapid data transmission on electronic circuit boards by using light.
Sending data on light beams, instead of electrical signals, allows data to be transmitted thousands of times more quickly, but controlling the light beams without losing their energy has been the challenge. Microchip and computer manufacturers however, are increasingly looking to light as the best way to overcome speed bottlenecks associated with today's electronics.
Raymond Rumpf a professor at UTEP said "Computer chips and circuit boards have metal wire connections within them that transport data signals,"."One of the challenges when using light is figuring out a way to make light bend so we can replace the metal wiring effectively".
"Direct laser writing has the potential to become a flexible means for manufacturing next generation computer devices," said Stephen Kuebler, a professor of chemistry at UCF.
Kubler and his students used direct laser writing, a kind of nanoscale 3-D printing, to create the miniature lattices. The team then ran light beams through the lattices and confirmed that they could flow light without loss through turns that are twice as tight as any other. The finding is significant because with the demand for ever smaller and faster computers and gadgets, engineers need ways to pack ultra-fast data transmission devices into smaller spaces.
Conventional light waveguides, like optical fibres, can be used to steer light through turns, but the turns must be gradual. If the turn is too quick, the light beams escape and energy is lost.To make ultra-sharp turns, the team designed the plastic devices so that its lattices steers the beam around corners without losing energy.
The team's technology creates a new record in the field of optics for its ability to bend light beams that record, creating a lattice that will turn the light through an even tighter turn. Rumpf envisions this groundbreaking tech will first appear in high-performance supercomputers before it can be commercialised.
Related posts:Supercomputers
Source: Mumbai Mirror
This device resembles a plastic honeycomb and yet infinitely smaller than a bee's stinger, it can steer light beams around tighter curves than ever before possible, while keeping the integrity and intensity of the beam intact.This device opens up a way for rapid data transmission on electronic circuit boards by using light.
Sending data on light beams, instead of electrical signals, allows data to be transmitted thousands of times more quickly, but controlling the light beams without losing their energy has been the challenge. Microchip and computer manufacturers however, are increasingly looking to light as the best way to overcome speed bottlenecks associated with today's electronics.
"Direct laser writing has the potential to become a flexible means for manufacturing next generation computer devices," said Stephen Kuebler, a professor of chemistry at UCF.
Kubler and his students used direct laser writing, a kind of nanoscale 3-D printing, to create the miniature lattices. The team then ran light beams through the lattices and confirmed that they could flow light without loss through turns that are twice as tight as any other. The finding is significant because with the demand for ever smaller and faster computers and gadgets, engineers need ways to pack ultra-fast data transmission devices into smaller spaces.
Conventional light waveguides, like optical fibres, can be used to steer light through turns, but the turns must be gradual. If the turn is too quick, the light beams escape and energy is lost.To make ultra-sharp turns, the team designed the plastic devices so that its lattices steers the beam around corners without losing energy.
The team's technology creates a new record in the field of optics for its ability to bend light beams that record, creating a lattice that will turn the light through an even tighter turn. Rumpf envisions this groundbreaking tech will first appear in high-performance supercomputers before it can be commercialised.
Related posts:Supercomputers
Source: Mumbai Mirror
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