Computers "based on the speed of light" have become much closer to reality

Computer scientists from the University of Utah (USA) announced a high-tech breakthrough, potentially opening the way for the development of supercomputers that will process data thousands of times faster than the current similar systems are capable of.

The basic principle of traditional computing processes is based on the transfer of electrons through physical wiring channels. However, engineers from the University of Utah developed "ultra-compact beam splitters" that use photons for light to transmit data, creating rays 50 times thinner than a human hair. Due to the ultra-small size, on one computer chip can fit millions of these beam splitters.

When it comes to measuring speed, the speed of light is always a constant value in this case. Nothing in the universe can move faster than this magnitude. Of course, there are theoretical assumptions that all the same you can move faster than the speed of light, but this is not the issue now.

"From a practical point of view, light is the fastest way to transmit information," says Rajeh Menon, a computer engineering professor in his article in Nature Phototronics.

"However, to transfer information, for example, to your laptop, the light must somehow be transformed into electrons. Otherwise, the machine will not understand what you want from it. And this is just the main problem. With such a transformation, information transfer will be slower. "

"Our task is to turn the whole process of transmission exclusively at the expense of light."

And the key to solving this problem is the developed and first demonstrated polarized beam splitter.

Menon, who was in charge of the management of the group that developed the beam splitter, believes that this technology can be adapted for use in supercomputers installed in huge data centers and responsible for processing a huge amount of information within three to four years. And if you look further, imagine the consumer-oriented smartphones and tablets, which will not only be more powerful than the current home computers, but will consume much less electricity (in comparison with current phones and tablets) for work.

The article is based on materials https://hi-news.ru/technology/kompyutery-na-baze-skorosti-sveta-stali-gorazdo-blizhe-k-realnosti.html.