Light-Based Computers Are Nearly Here

Within a generation, the conventional mode of computer processing – electron-based – could be thing of the past. The future is bright. Or, rather, light. Refining the electrical conductivity and refractive properties of glass could yield the world’s first photonic computer, with information being transmitted via particles of light.

Richard Curry, a physicist at the University of Surrey, said in a statement, “”Much like how the web uses light to deliver information, we want to use light to both deliver and process computer data.”

Curry and his team have developed a type of chalcogenide glass that can used to manufacture circuit boards. The properties of the glass allows light to transmit the data across it. They predict that the technology could make it to our home computers within ten years. Even sooner, we may see chalcogenide glass implemented in new RAM chips, known as CRAM become the new standard.

Source: Vice