Technology
Silicon Photonics for On-Chip Optical Interconnects
Quick fact
Silicon photonics is so compatible with existing chip manufacturing that the same factories that make your smartphone's processor can also make optical components, enabling mass production at low cost.
Why this is interesting
Your computer's brain is connected to its memory by tiny wires that can only carry so much electricity—but what if those wires were replaced with beams of light? Silicon photonics makes this possible, promising to unstick the data traffic jams inside your devices.