A team of scientists has developed the world's first entirely
light-based memory chip to store data permanently that can help
dramatically improve the speed of modern computing.
The new
non-volatile memory uses the GST phase-change material - the same as
that used in rewritable CDs and DVDs - to store data.
This
material can be made to assume an amorphous state, like glass or a
crystalline state, like a metal, by using either electrical or optical
pulses.
The team has shown that intense pulses of light sent
through the waveguide can carefully change the state of the phase-change
material.
An intense pulse causes it to momentarily melt and
quickly cool, causing it to assume an amorphous structure; a slightly
less-intense pulse can put it into an crystalline state.
"This is a
completely new kind of functionality using proven existing materials,"
said professor Harish Bhaskaran from Oxford University's department of
materials.
"These optical bits can be written with frequencies of
up to one gigahertz and could provide huge bandwidths. This is the kind
of ultra-fast data storage that modern computing needs," he noted.
Today's computers are held back by the relatively slow transmission of electronic data between the processor and the memory.
"There
is no point using faster processors if the limiting factor is the
shuttling of information to-and-from the memory. But we think using
light can significantly speed this up," Bhaskaran explained.
For
the study, the material scientists at Oxford University worked in
collaboration with scientists at Karlsruhe, Munster and Exeter
universities.
With this device, "we could read and write to
thousands of bits at once, providing virtually unlimited bandwidth",
explained professor Wolfram Pernice from University of Munster.
The team is working on a number of projects that aim to make use of the new technology.
They
are particularly interested in developing a new kind of electro-optical
interconnect, which will allow the memory chips to directly interface
with other components using light, rather than electrical signals.
The paper was published in the journal Nature Photonics.
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