One of the major problems with current electronics is the speed of the electron moving through a wire, or rather, the random path electrons take with propagating through wires and traces. Follow one electron as it travels in through the atoms of a wire and you will see that it may take the longest path to its destination. Very similar to Brownian Motion. To bypass this issue, researchers are pushing towards using light to pass data. Think, fiber optics driving a processor's communication. The problem is data emitting and detection would be done at the regular slow electron in the wire speeds. What that means is no speed improvement would happen with current technology behind optics. But, the next step to optical computing may have just been discovered.
Researchers at Oregon State University, the University of Iowa, and Germany's Philipps University have found a material that can operate at the terahertz level. The team have discovered that a compound made from Gallium Aresenide, at the nano scale, can handle terahertz signals for short periods of time. That is 100 to 1000 times faster than current processing speeds. This material will bring us closer to full optical computing. However, the material is super cooled in a lab, not exactly ready for public use. The goal for the team, now, is to extend its terahertz time frame, and making it work at higher temperatures.
If achieved, a radical jump in technology will not be far behind. Quantum computing is on the way! If you want to afford it, the complete article can be bought here.
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