Photon processors use light to carry information and operate at high frequencies. Intel is developing all-silicon lasers to move data, while Luxtera plans to produce optical modulators for photon processors to reach speeds of up to 10 GHz. This technology is expected to trickle down to consumers by 2010-2015.
Photon processors are a practical use of the emerging field of photonics. With photonics, light is used as a medium to carry information. Photonics operates at frequencies on the order of hundreds of terahertz.
Intel has begun work on all-silicon lasers that they hope will soon be able to use light (rather than electrical currents) to move data. A number of startups are developing various technologies to take advantage of the situation once the mainstream market has made the switch.
Luxtera, one of these startups, has planned the production of an optical modulator that will be used to transform electrons into photons for use in photon processors. They envisage processors rapidly reaching speeds of up to 10 GHz, ten times the speeds Intel is discussing for its latest optical modulators.
Luxtera has begun working with microprocessor maker Freescale Semiconductor on their technology, and Freescale has already launched some engineering samples. These samples use similar technology used in the G4 microprocessor (130nm SOI process). Their council members include Nobel laureate Arno Penzias and Eli Yablonovitch (the UCLA professor who developed photoelectric crystals).
As traditional forms of processors hit a necessary limit on bandwidth, photon processors offer a way to not just break, but actually break through these limitations. Currently the costs are quite high, but with all the major players in the industry heavily invested in the development of photon processing, prices will no doubt drop quite rapidly once production begins.
It is initially likely that photon processors will only be used in high-end supercomputers to produce virtually indestructible encryption and in processor-intensive rendering for big-budget film and game sequences. However, this technology is expected to quickly trickle down to the consumer level, and we can hope to see affordable 10GHz processors by 2010-2015. The applications are virtually unlimited for this technology.
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