What is optical computer technology?

Optical computing is a computer technology in the research and theory phase. The aim would be to create a computer that relies solely on light (photons) instead of electricity (electrons) for calculation. The attraction of optical computers is limited because with short distances they require more energy than electronic computers to make the same calculation. However, optical computer technology can allow computer design physically impossible by electronics. Optical computer technology is still in the early stages of development - only a few very limited prototypes have been constructed in the laboratory.

The optical computer primarily uses lasers to send signals. Unfortunately, lasers cannot interact directly with them in a meaningful way, so that the calculations require a mediator in the form of matter. Attempts to produce "optical transistors" tend to revolve around materials that re -emit the light in response to the intensity of the inmating light. To build these components into giantThe voice site can allow the design of an optical computer.

So far, Optics has been enthusiastically accepted for long -distance data transfer, as in fiber optics. At short distances, however, it is one of the main disadvantages of optical computing pages - the loss of energy that experiences light requires more energy to send the signal than to send the same signal at the same distance. Long distances win light, but part of the computer point is that they are to be small and the distances above which light is better (10 ft/3 m or more) are quite large according to the calculation standards. Nevertheless, the optical channels could be used in large supercomputers to send data more efficiently than electronics.

theoretically, optical computer techniques could produce computers tens of thousands of time faster than today's computers, as light can travel much fasterthan electric current. In practice, however, the need to use large rays of light to prevent the loss of the signal, has ruled out this option. Recently, however, scientists at the University of Harvard have found a way to turn the register using only one photon, a milestone that could open the way to effective optical computer technology. Scientists used plasmones, small medium surface disorders that can be created by bombing photon.

Optical computer technology, such as quantum computer technology, is one of those wild card technologies-it is one of the dozens of approaches that evolves in anticipation that it develops with a conventional electronic calculation against physical limits, but it remains to find out whether it will be fruit in the long run. If you work on technology yourself, everything we can do now is to wait and watch.