MIT breakthroughs on light quantum chips

Progress at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) could allow the creation of photonic (photonic) chips using conventional silicon.

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MIT researchers have announced a breakthrough that could speed up new computers based on photonic chips, using light beams instead of electrons to operate.

Big progress is that now photonic chips can be made on conventional silicon materials used for parts inside computers today, according to MIT. The emergence of photonic computers can help speed up traffic through optical fiber networks by eliminating the conversion process.

MIT's 'light diode' is described in an article published in Nature Photonics on November 13, 2011. This device - made from a transparent, magnetic material called garnet (garnet) - will integrate functionality into a chip currently being processed in a separate device.

The research team is composed of professors Caroline Ross, Lionel Kimerling of the Department of Materials and Engineering Science at MIT and two alumni Lei Bi and Juejun Hu. The US National Science Foundation (NSF) and Intel funded research.