Electro-optic material increases data communication speed A research team from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) in the Øresund region has developed an efficient method to transfer an electric signal to an optical signal.
(Photonics)
This opens up the possibility of combining optics with electronics on the same computer chip and thus boosting the speed of data communications.
”Computer chips are made of silicon, and our so called optical modulator, also in silicon, will make it possible to combine optics and electronics. An optical modulator will make PCs much faster than today. In addition, the speed of Internet for the end-user will increase substantially”, explains Rune Shim Jacobsen, on of the researchers behind the discovery.
Silicon nanophotonics have been an active research topic at COM•DTU the last six years. The research team has found that the material properties can be changed drastically by deforming the crystal structure of silicon. The breakthrough has been published in the scientific journal Nature.
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