• Micro-Photonics Soon To Be A Reality - Will Save Power On Fiber Optics, Etc!
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[img_thumb]http://www.iflscience.com/sites/www.iflscience.com/files/styles/ifls_large/public/blog/%5Bnid%5D/ultracompact%20beamsplitter%20doesn%27t%20look%20like%20much%20but%20wow.PNG[/img_thumb] [QUOTE]A team of scientists has created a tiny silicon photonic chip that takes mankind a step closer to light-speed computer technology. The device is an ultracompact beamsplitter: A microscopic chip that takes an incoming beam of light and spits out two beams of light. "This is analogous to separating two channels of communication (for example, a video stream from PBS and another from Netflix). [B]Previously such separation would have required time and power-consuming electronics or if photonics devices were used, they would have been much larger (so much harder to integrate onto a chip)[/B]," [URL="https://faculty.utah.edu/u0676529-Rajesh_Menon/biography/index.hml"]Rajesh Menon[/URL], associate professor at [URL="http://www.utah.edu/"]The University of Utah[/URL], told IFLScience. When you access the Internet from your computer, light particles (photons) that contain data bounce along a fiber-optic cable, ready to relay the latest blog or cute cat video to your screen. When the photons reach your computer, they need to be converted to electrons so that your computer can understand the data. This isn't always very efficient; bottlenecking can occur as quick photons wait to transfer their data to comparatively sluggish electrons—just like when two lanes merge to one on the freeway and cause traffic jams. [...] Creating the smallest beamsplitter ever has its challenges. Before now, the most miniature beamsplitter was [URL="http://www.eurekalert.org/emb_releases/2015-05/uou-cat051415.php"]100 by 100 microns[/URL] (a [URL="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/380452/micrometre"]micron[/URL], or micrometer, is one millionth of a meter), but the team at Utah has created one that is [URL="http://www.eurekalert.org/emb_releases/2015-05/uou-cat051415.php"]2.4 by 2.4 microns[/URL]. For comparison, that's a similar scale to a red blood cell ([URL="http://www.microbiologyonline.org.uk/about-microbiology/introducing-microbes/overview"]10 microns[/URL]) or a bacterium ([URL="http://www.microbiologyonline.org.uk/about-microbiology/introducing-microbes/overview"]around 2 microns[/URL]). So this new microtechnology will be really expensive, right? Surprisingly, not so much. [B]The size of the chip means that fewer raw materials are needed to make it and the techniques to print the chip use mature, preexisting processes in silicon electronics.[/B] "This means that we can exploit the vast existing manufacturing infrastructure to enable integrated photonics," Menon told IFLScience.[/QUOTE] [URL="http://www.iflscience.com/technology/revolutionary-silicon-chip-makes-light-work"]Source[/URL] Awesome to hear that it uses already existing semi-conductor fab techniques. The power savings for this will be signficant in high density fiber optics communications.
[quote]When you access the Internet from your computer, light particles (photons) that contain data bounce along a fiber-optic cable[/quote] Is fiberoptic that commonplace already?
[QUOTE=LoneWolf_Recon;47753870][img_thumb]http://www.iflscience.com/sites/www.iflscience.com/files/styles/ifls_large/public/blog/%5Bnid%5D/ultracompact%20beamsplitter%20doesn%27t%20look%20like%20much%20but%20wow.PNG[/img_thumb][/QUOTE] I like how what it takes to split a beam of light carrying information is to make it go through what looks like a QR code maze.
[QUOTE=Electrocuter;47753948]I like how what it takes to split a beam of light carrying information is to make it go through what looks like a QR code maze.[/QUOTE] I've only had two introductory classes into light mechanics, and I can hazard a guess that each one of those dots & holes take advantage of the refraction of each doped array. Thus you can adjust the array of dots/holes to tune for light of a certain wavelength/color to go to the top lane and a different wavelength/color to go to the bottom lane.
[QUOTE=Tone Float;47753906]Is fiberoptic that commonplace already?[/QUOTE] Most backbone in ISPs is fiber, you might not have a fibre connection to your house, but your ISPs connection between their data centers will be fibre, and most inter-country connections are fibre too.
Does it effectively duplicate the beam, or does it split it in some manner?
[QUOTE=find me;47754166]Does it effectively duplicate the beam, or does it split it in some manner?[/QUOTE] Splitting two separate signals from one mixed channel.
[quote="Menon"]"Our vision is to create a library of ultra-compact devices (including beamsplitters, but also other devices) that can then be all connected together in a variety of different ways to enable both optical computing and communications."[/quote] Future glass optical computer towers will be the shit!
[QUOTE=find me;47754205]Future glass optical computer towers will be the shit![/QUOTE] They'll be all glowy and shit I hope
[QUOTE=Tone Float;47753906]Is fiberoptic that commonplace already?[/QUOTE] [quote]Previously such separation would have required time and power-consuming electronics or if photonics devices were used, they would have been much larger (so much harder to integrate onto a chip)[/quote] This doesn't really do anything exactly super new, but it allows to do things we have been able to do before on an absolutely minuscule scale. That means we will be able to do the same thing with lower power requirements, keep the signal optical for longer (instead of transforming it into electric), make the devices smaller...or keep the devices as big and bulky as they used to be and massively increase the bandwidth and throughput! It's not a new invention really, it's a miniaturization triumph. [editline]19th May 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=Electrocuter;47753948]I like how what it takes to split a beam of light carrying information is to make it go through what looks like a QR code maze.[/QUOTE] I am pretty sure that the pixelated nature has to mainly do with the fabrication process/ease of design. A naturally "optimal" solution would probably have a bit less artificial look, but chances are this is perfectly functional enough and is far less hassle to make. [editline]19th May 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=viperfan7;47754824]They'll be all glowy and shit I hope[/QUOTE] Probably not since if you have optical data paths exposed to outside, either leaking their light or god forbid, letting some light from outside in, you will be losing energy and introducing interference and errors to the data transfer. You will sadly have to stick to ricer glow tubes.
[QUOTE=Awesomecaek;47754914]it's a miniaturization triumph. [/QUOTE] pretty much every little miniaturization will lead to something much grander even an over clock of 1% over the scale of many hours, or used by thousands of different devices for a specific task, could make a huge difference, at least when that tiny bit actually is able to make a difference I mean, for ISP's and stuff this is a difference, but that's it really
[QUOTE=J!NX;47754931]pretty much every little miniaturization will lead to something much grander even an over clock of 1% over the scale of many hours, or used by thousands of different devices for a specific task, could make a huge difference, at least when that tiny bit actually is able to make a difference I mean, for ISP's and stuff this is a difference, but that's it really[/QUOTE] The idea is we will eventually hope to build fully or partially optical computers which would operate at fraction of the energy requirement of our electric ones with computing power completely out of the Moore's law world.
Oh no what are they gonna call Fios
[QUOTE=find me;47754166]Does it effectively duplicate the beam, or does it split it in some manner?[/QUOTE] Its functions exactly like a prism splitting white light to rainbow light, but instead of white light and rainbow it splits infrared to several shades of infrared, which can be detected separately
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