Sapphire chip linked by light
10 April 2002
News
One of the challenges of making computer chips is to efficiently ferry information into and out of them. While usually done via metal wire conductors, engineers at Johns Hopkins University have now devised a cost-effective way to speed up the way microchips 'talk' to each other by using light! Their method takes advantage of unusual characteristics associated with 'silicon on sapphire' technology. Integrated circuits are usually made up of thin slices of the semiconductor silicon. To this are added layers of synthetic sapphire, an insulator that does not conduct electricity, but allows light to pass through. Signals that originate from a wire are transformed into light and beamed through the transparent sapphire substrate by a tiny laser. Here, microlenses and other optical components collect the light beam and guide it to another place on the chip or, by optical fibre, move it to another chip. At its destination, the light enters a high-speed optical receiver circuit that turns the photons back into a stream of electrons that can be handled by the chip's electrical wiring. According to the researchers a signal could move 100 times faster like this, than with a metal wire. They claim their prototype is capable of shunting information on and off the chip at the rate of one gigabit per second! Since the sapphire substrate is an insulating material, the optoelectric interface circuits require much less power. Wires also have parasitic capacitances, which not only degrade signals but also increase power consumption. Without parasitic capacitance it is much faster to send signals at the speed of light. With processes as small as 0,1 µm the design has the potential to run at 5 Gbps, say the researchers.
So, while hardware gets faster, cheaper and smaller, software still gets slower, costlier and bigger! To read more on this research see www.nd.edu/~stjoseph/newscas/CASMagvol1no3.pdf
Further reading:
Hitachi reinvents asset management solution
News
Hitachi Energy, in collaboration with Microsoft, is accelerating the digital transformation of essential infrastructure - from electricity networks and transportation corridors to heavy industrial operations - by reinventing how critical assets are managed and maintained.
Read more...
Mycronic releases mixed Q4 results
News
Mycronic reported mixed Q4 results for the year ended January to December 2025, while delivering record full year order intake and net sales.
Read more...
AGOA: Businesses should diversify or face significant exposure
News
Cross-border payments platform Verto has called on South African and African businesses to accelerate their transition toward a “post-AGOA” trade strategy following President Donald Trump’s signing of a one-year extension to the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).
Read more...
European components distribution growing
News
European electronic components distribution returned to growth in the fourth quarter of 2025, according to newly released figures from DMASS Europe.
Read more...
Silicon Labs reports strong growth
News
Silicon Labs has reported robust financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2025, with significant YoY revenue gains and shifting market dynamics.
Read more...
Siemens acquires Canopus AI
ASIC Design Services
News
The acquisition extends Siemens’ comprehensive EDA software portfolio with computational metrology and inspection to help chipmakers solve critical technical challenges in semiconductor manufacturing.
Read more...
Micron breaks ground on new wafer fabs
News
Micron Technology has advanced two major semiconductor manufacturing initiatives that together reflect the company’s strategic response to sustained global demand for memory solutions.
Read more...
Texas Instruments announces planned acquisition of Silicon Labs
News
Texas Instruments Incorporated and Silicon Laboratories recently announced a definitive agreement under which Texas Instruments will acquire Silicon Labs, combining two leaders in semiconductor technology.
Read more...
AI-fueled supercycle doubles memory market revenue
News
The ongoing surge in artificial intelligence is set to propel both the memory and wafer foundry sectors to unprecedented revenue levels by 2026, according to TrendForce.
Read more...
Research agreement for EUV tech
News
Gelest, Inc., a Mitsubishi Chemical Group company, recently announced a research agreement with IBM to test Gelest precursor materials for dry resist EUV lithography.
Read more...
printer friendly version