As artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and high-performance data centers continue to drive global demand for faster computing, researchers are increasingly looking beyond conventional electronics.
A team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) believes the answer may lie in more efficient integration of electronic and photonic chips. A challenge that has long slowed the adoption of next-generation optical computing.
Through its FUTUR-IC research program, MIT has unveiled a series of advances that could help future microchips transmit data at more than one petabit per second while consuming significantly less energy. The work centers on new devices that simplify the integration of electronics, which process information using electricity, with photonics, which transmit information using light.
According to the researchers, the technologies could also be manufactured using existing semiconductor production equipment, making them more practical for large-scale adoption.
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