Optical microprocessors can someday provide the speed of light computing, and new research shows that we can produce silicon nanowires that selectively transmit different colors of light. After further development, it is possible to construct and encapsulate the corresponding electronic components in the nanoscale process nodes with all optical interconnections. Many technology enthusiasts know that optical cables can provide higher bandwidth and speed than traditional copper cables.
The speed of light is considered to be the theoretical velocity limit of any type of motion.
Material: laser silicon chip structure schematic diagram (VIA) Previously, researchers have tried to use optical interconnections on microprocessors, but never found a solution for mass production.
The good news is that researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have just published a new paper.
It describes in detail how the silicon nanowires are used to ' selectively allow different wavelengths of light to pass ', while selectively turning on or off different colors of light paths is an important step towards ' building a pure optical microprocessor '. The researchers have witnessed some miraculous phenomena as a result of the creation of special shapes inside the nanowires.
The diameter of the optical tube is modulated by the proprietary technology, which realizes the selective optical transmission.
RCS frequency function of the perfect conductive metal ball calculated by the theory of Mie scattering (Fig.: Catslash/Wikipedia) To guide the light to the nanowires, the researchers exploited the optical properties of the ' Mie Scattering ' (scattering).
One interesting finding in the study is that the color of the light in the nanowires is quite sensitive to the conditions of the environment. For micro sensors with primary optical output, they have many potential applications, especially in the aerospace and defense sectors.
Miniaturization, however, is one of the obstacles impeding the mass production of optical processors. The current microprocessor can encapsulate billions of transistors, and the scale has been reduced below 10nm.
