BBC News | SCI/TECH | 'Smaller, faster' computers possible

[janet paterson <janet313@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

BBC News Online: Sci/Tech

Wednesday, 7 March, 2001, 19:06 GMT

'Smaller, faster' computers possible

Scientists in Britain have made a technological advance that could lead to
faster, smaller computers.

They have forced silicon to emit light, a discovery that may make it
possible to use light rather than electricity to carry signals around a
chip.

Light beams can be made much smaller than wires, so chips utilising light
can continue to get smaller and more powerful.

Such a device would also allow internet traffic to continue to accelerate.

The approach was developed by a team at the University of Surrey, UK, lead
by Professor Kevin Homewood.

"Chips are getting smaller and more powerful every year, but ultimately, and
probably in the next few years, there will come a point where the complexity
of the contacts and the wire doesn't scale, but stays the same," he said.

He believes his team has come up with a solution - they have used current
technology to make silicon emit light.

"Silicon is meant to give out heat, not light," he said. "We have engineered
it and built walls around the part that conducts heat to allow light to go
through instead.

"The technique squeezed light out of silicon by creating extra silicon atoms
to provide areas that can emit light in the material."

'Smaller, faster'

Professor Homewood said it should mean computer chips will continue to get
"smaller and faster".

"It will enable continued developments in telecommunications, and be
particularly useful for the internet," he added.

According to the Surrey team, making light emitting silicon can be done with
current technology, so chip manufacturers would only need minimal
modifications to their billion dollar factories.

The new approach, reported in the journal Nature, works best at room
temperature, making it ideal for use in personal computers.

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Related to this story:
The chips go marching on (11 Dec 00 | Sci/Tech) Intel's Pentium 4 debut (20
Nov 00 | Sci/Tech)

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Internet links: Nature | University of Surrey |

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