Optical Transistor

An optical transistor is a device that works like a normal transistor only it would "flip" a beam of light by rotating it. Scientists have finally figured out how to do this paving the way for much faster light based computer technology that is not restricted by the physical resistance of conductive materials like copper and gold. The current computer system produces a lot of heat and much power is devoted to cooling the system. With optical transistors(which would assume the role of fiber optics in place of integrated circuits) computing speed is no longer restricted by heating.

Optical Transistor Advance: Physicists Rotate Beams of Light With Semiconductor

ScienceDaily (Apr. 2, 2011) — Physicists have managed to control the rotation of light by means of a ultra thin semiconductor. The advance could potentially be used to create a transistor that works with light instead of electrical current.

reply to post by projectvxn


Light power anyone?

Coolest thing ever.

Apple release its new iBeam supercomputer

There's no question this is cool, but I'm pretty sure that optical transistors had been developed, at least under laboratory conditions, several years ago, because I remember hearing about them when I was studying electrical engineering. Perhaps this one operates under a different principle than any before it?

reply to post by DragonsDemesne


Not sure.

I've heard of optical transistors before as well, but I have not actually seen an article or had someone explain the principle to me until I found this little diddy on Science Daily.