Optical computing: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 11:17, 11 October 2005

Revision as of 18:02, 11 October 2005

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Today's computers use the movement of electrons in-and-out of transistors to do logic. '''Photonic computing''' is intended to use [[photon]]s or light particles, produced by lasers, in place of [[electrons]]. Compared to electrons, photons are much faster – light travels about 30 cm, or one foot, in a [[nanosecond]] – and have a higher [[bandwidth]].

Computers work with [[binary]], on or off, states. A completely optical computer requires that one light beam can turn another on and off. This was first achieved with the [[photonic transistor]], invented in [[1989]] at the Rocky Mountain Research Center.