Computing at the speed of light

Abstract

Computers that use photons of light instead of electrons to transmit data may herald the end of the electronic era. Photons hold important advantages over electrons, they: move faster; posses no charge, so they can cross through each other without interference; and require no wires. Furthermore, color is just one of many aspects of light that can be controlled, which adds to the depth of information that can be encoded into it. Other aspects include amplitude, location phase, and polarization. With this versatility, data throughput has the potential to be enormous with photons. And because photons don't require wires, an unlimited number of connections can be made between computer parts, which could spur radically different, more powerful, and smaller computer designs.