What is it?
Optical computing describes a new technological approach for constructing computers’ processors and other components. Instead of the current approach of electrically transmitting data along tiny wires etched onto silicon, optical computing employs a technology called silicon photonics that uses laser light instead. This use of optical lasers overcomes the constraints associated with heat dissipation in today’s components and allows much more information to be stored and transmitted in the same amount of space.
Today, silicon photonics is mainly being used to boost the performance of fixed telecommunications networks, for example improving data throughput and alleviating bottlenecks, but chip manufacturers are interested in using it to develop a new breed of computer processors. Such chips could be used to create optical computers delivering a massive leap in computing power and speed, as well as offering a way for the industry to continue to keep pace with (and perhaps even exceed) Moore’s Law’s predictions as traditional electronic chip fabrication processes approach their physical limits.
Photonics presents the possibility of ‘light speed’ optical data pipes inside computers capable of moving information at the rate of one terabit (1,000,000,000,000 bits) every second. This huge throughput could enable a new breed of high performance computing applications.
The potential benefits offered in the data center are also huge, as here you can not only benefit from the performance gains but also from energy savings, because optical chips are nowhere near as power hungry and energy wasteful as the chips of today. An eventual switch to optical computing could play a significant role in reducing the carbon footprint of IT systems.
To learn more about optical computing, download our full Foresight PDF file (
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