Power Of Light Transfers One Trillion Bits/Second

Researchers at IBM have been busy perfecting a new technique which allows an optical chip to transfer one terabit (one trillion bits) of information per second. The technology will be useful in powering new supercomputers and helping data centers manage information. The new chip, being called “Holey Optochip”, exceeds current data transfer speeds by over eight times.

The technique used to make the chip function involves making minuscule holes in a .250 of an inch micro optical chip to increase transfer rates. IBM has supplied a look at the chip below:

The recent demand for this technology has fueled the efforts at IBM as both corporate and consumer networks continue to grow. Optical connection significantly increase data transfer when compared with conventional electrical pulses. Optical connections have become the new standard in data transfer and this newest vein of research from IBM will propel the technology to even greater nights.

IBM Researcher Clint Schow, who helped develop the new optical chip, comments on the new technology:

“Reaching the one trillion bit per second mark with the Holey Optochip marks IBM’s latest milestone to develop chip-scale transceivers that can handle the volume of traffic in the era of big data,”

“We have been actively pursuing higher levels of integration, power efficiency and performance for all the optical components through packaging and circuit innovations. We aim to improve on the technology for commercialization in the next decade with the collaboration of manufacturing partners.”

Here’s what a finished chip looks like:

Here’s what folks on Twitter had to say about the breakthrough: