Transmitting data by light could solve bandwidth limitations

Dubbed silicon nanophotonics, the technology allows the integration of different optical components side by side with electrical circuits on a single silicon chip using sub-100nm semiconductor technology.

According to IBM, silicon nanophotonics takes advantage of pulses of light for communication and lets large volumes of data move at rapid speeds between computer chips in servers, large datacentres and supercomputers, thereby alleviating the limitations of congested data traffic and high-cost traditional interconnects. 

‘This technology breakthrough is a result of more than a decade of… research at IBM,’ said Dr John E Kelly, senior vice-president and director of IBM Research. ‘This allows us to move silicon nanophotonics technology into a real-world manufacturing environment that will have impact across a range of applications.’

Businesses are entering a new era of computing that requires systems to process and analyse, in real time, large volumes of information known as Big Data. Silicon nanophotonics technology provides answers to Big Data challenges by connecting various parts of large systems and moving terabytes of data via pulses of light through optical fibres.