IBM closer to chips with frickin' laser beams
IBM scientists say they're another step closer to creating computer chips circuits that efficiently use frickin' laser beams rather than copper wires to communicate.
On Wednesday, Big Blue's light wrangling boffins unveiled what's called an avalanche photodetector that is capable of receiving optical information pulses at 40Gbps. The device also operates with just a 1.5V voltage power supply, rather than the 20V to 30V power supplies required by existing devices.
Furthermore, the device is made of silicon and germanium. Both materials are already widely used in the production of traditional microprocessors and fabricated using standard processes for chip making.
