Replacing traditional computer chip components with light-based counterparts will eventually make electronic devices faster due to the wide bandwidth of light.

A new protective metamaterial "cladding" prevents light from leaking out of the very curvy pathways it would travel in a computer chip.

Because processing information with light can be more efficient than with electrons used in current devices, there is good reason to confine light onto a chip. But light and the bits of information it carries tend to leak and scatter out of the tiny components that must fit on a chip.

A Purdue University-led effort has built a novel cladding along the highways for light travel, called waveguides, to prevent information leaks - particularly around sharp bends where light bounces off track and scatters. Information then gets lost or jumbled rather than communicated throughout a device. Preventing this could facilitate the integration of photonic with electric circuitry, increasing communication speed and reducing power consumption.

"We want the bits of information that we are sending in the waveguide to travel along tight bends and simultaneously not be lost as heat. This is a challenge," said Zubin Jacob, Purdue assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering.

What makes the waveguide cladding so unique is anisotropy, meaning that the cladding design enables light to travel at different velocities in different directions. By controlling the anisotropy of the cladding, the researchers prevented light from leaking off track into other waveguides where "crosstalk," or mixing, of information would occur.

Instead, bits of information carried by light bounce off by "total internal reflection" and stay strongly confined within a waveguide.

"The waveguide we made is an extreme skin-depth structure, which means that any leakage that does happen will be really small," said Saman Jahani, Purdue graduate research assistant in electrical and computer engineering. "This approach can pave the way for dense photonic integration on a computer chip without worrying about light leakage."

Research Report: "Controlling evanescent waves using silicon photonic all-dielectric metamaterials for dense integration"

Related Links
Purdue University
Stellar Chemistry, The Universe And All Within It

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Scientists develop new materials that move in response to light
Medford MA (SPX) Jul 25, 2018
Researchers at Tufts University School of Engineering have developed magnetic elastomeric composites that move in different ways when exposed to light, raising the possibility that these materials could enable a wide range of products that perform simple to complex movements, from tiny engines and valves to solar arrays that bend toward the sunlight. The research is described in an article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. In biology, there are many examples where l ... read more