SEMINAR ON:

Optical Computing
: BY DEBASMITA RATH

What is the Optical Computing Buzz About?

Consider Email
Electronic To Photonic Converter .txt format Fiber optic cables

Optical Computers perform computations, operate, store and transmit data using only light.

An optical computer (also called a photonic computer) is a device that uses the photons of visible light or infrared (IR) beams, rather than electrons in an electric current, to perform digital computations. An electric current creates heat in computer systems.

As the processing speed increases, so does the amount of electricity required; this extra heat is extremely damaging to the hardware. Photons, however, create substantially less heat than electrons, on a given size scale. Thus, the development of more powerful processing systems becomes possible.

Why Do We Need Optical Computers?

Rapid growth of the Internet Network speeds currently limited by electronic circuits Terabit speeds are required Traditional silicon circuits have a physical limit

How Does It Work?

Photonic circuits Organic compounds No short-circuiting possible No heat dissipation Speed of light in photonic circuits will be close to speed of light in vacuum Light beams can travel in parallel
They can transfer data in parallel.

Future Benefits

Current vs. Limitations

Photonic circuit accuracy Requirement of power

No conversion of data Faster that todays machines Increased computational power Optimized storage Increased bandwidth Super-fast database searches

What Is the Projected Timeline?

Still some time in the future
On our desktops in 15 years

Now researchers have made progress

Light can be trapped for long enough to store data Advanced optical CD-ROMs (Write/Read/Erase)

In the near term, optical computers will most likely be hybrid optical/electronic systems.

Whats Beyond the Optical Limit?

Quantum computing
Allows particles to be in more than one state at a time Each particle in a quantum computer to hold more than one bit of information.

A quantum computer is, thus far, only a hypothetical machine

Expected between 2030 and 2050

What Should Your Organization Do?

1. Participate in research activities (like ISRC seminars ) 2. Review the status of optical computing research about every two years 3. Compare those advances with advances in the micro-miniaturization of traditional processors 4. Try to identify those segments of the economy that will benefit the soonest from advances in optical computing