A Guiding Light on the Nanoscale

PhysOrg:: "Hints of the potential of photonics can be glimpsed in today's fiber-optic communications, where a single optical fiber can carry the equivalent of 300,000 telephone calls at the same time. But the power of fully realized photonics goes far beyond this. For example, it's been estimated that a photonic internet could transmit data at 160 gigabits per second, which is thousands of times faster than today's typical high-speed connection. Another possibility is the optical computer, which could solve problems in seconds that would take today's electronic computers months or even years to solve. "

It's important because the different light wavelengths give a far greater spread of options in computing than simple on/off yes/no switches of traditional binary computing. Possibilities that the effects of Moore's law may continue even if the physical limits are soon reached in respect of silicon based electro-conductive computing.