How glass could help build super-fast computers

A new research has demonstrated that how glass can be manipulated to create a material that will allow computers to transfer information using light.

The study conducted by the University of Surrey suggested that this development could significantly increase computer processing speeds and power in the future.

The research conducted in collaboration with the University of Cambridge and the University of Southampton, has found that it is possible to change the electronic properties of amorphous chalcogenides, a glass material integral to data technologies such as CDs and DVDs by using a technique called ion doping, the team of researchers have discovered a material that could use light to bring together different computing functions into one component, leading to all-optical systems.

Project leader, Dr Richard Curry of the University of Surrey, said that the challenge was to find a single material that could effectively use and control light to carry information around a computer much like how the web used light to deliver information, they wanted to use light to both deliver and process computer data.

The researchers expect that the results of this research will be integrated into computers within ten years. In the short term, the glass is already being developed and used in next-generation computer memory technology known as CRAM, which may ultimately be integrated with the advances reported.

The study is published in the journal Nature Communications.