U.S. has developed ultra-fast nano-level light emitting diodes
October 12, 2022
According to a report from the American Physicist Organization Network, a research team at Stanford University’s School of Engineering has developed an ultra-fast nanoscale light-emitting diode (LED) that can transmit data at a speed of 10 billion bits per second and is based on current lasers. The system device consumes less energy. The researchers said that this is an important step for providing ultra-fast, low-power light sources for computer data transmission on the chip. The relevant research report was published in the "Nature and Communications" magazine published on the 15th.
Researchers say that low-energy electronically controlled light sources are key to the next generation of optical systems, which can cater to the growing energy needs of the computer industry. Traditionally, engineers believe that only lasers can communicate with extremely high data rates and ultra-low power consumption. The single-mode LED developed this time can emit light of a single wavelength, is very similar to a laser, can perform the same task as a laser, and consumes less energy.
In the center of the new device, the researchers inserted several islands of indium arsenide. When electric pulses pass, they produce light. These "islets" are surrounded by photonic crystals (mirror arrays etched on semiconductors) that can focus light rays into the center of the device like a mirror, trapping them in LEDs, and being forced to resonate at a single frequency. To form single-mode light.
The existing equipment basically consists of two devices, a laser emitter and an external modulator. Both devices require power consumption, and the new diodes integrate the functions of the light emitter and modulator into one device, significantly reducing power consumption. Scientists said that the new equipment can achieve 2,000 to 4,000 times the energy efficiency of the most efficient equipment currently available. On average, the new LED device can transmit data at a power consumption of 0.25 femtojoules (10-15 joules) per bit, while today's typical low-power laser devices also require 500 femtojoules to transmit a single bit, while other technologies consume energy. More. (Reporter Zhang Hao)
Combine the light emitter and modulator into one, which is 2,000 to 4,000 times the energy efficiency of the most efficient equipment currently available. It can transmit data at a speed of 10 billion bits per second. This kind of energy consumption is low, and it is faster than lasers. The new diodes don't sound like they're cheering. Once this exciting result is put into practice, the increasingly strained energy problems will be greatly eased, and the phenomenon of falling into a computer with slow speed and falling into the mouse will become a thing of the past. The prospects are bright and we have a long way to go. Only hope that this beautiful vision will not allow us to wait too long.