Lighting the way to speedier circuits. (the first electronic switch controlled entirely by light)

From: Science News | Date: June 22, 1991| Author: | Copyright information

The rate at which an electronic switch turns on and off is limited by the speed at which electrons travel through a semiconductor. Now, researchers have circumvented that limitation with the first switch controlled entirely by light. The new optical switch turns on or off at least 20 times faster than the maximum rate possible for an electronic system, they report.

"We use light to control light," says Alan Huang of AT&T Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, N.J. "There are no semiconductors."

Previously reported "optical" switches incorporated semiconductor components ...

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