The discovery is directly linked to the possibility of processing data at a far greater speed and volume than what is currently available. It is expected to have a transformative impact in several key areas, such as optical computing and AI, integrated quantum technologies, and ultra-fast physics.
“It is difficult to grasp the advances we will experience in our daily lives as a result of this breakthrough,” explains Dr. Ferrera.
will underpin exciting new technologies we cannot fully understand at this time.”
The material properties we are investigating here could increase computational speed by several orders of magnitude, enabling handling much greater volumes of information at a fraction of current energy expenditure.
Dr. Ferrera continues, “Searching for a material that can drastically change under low-energy illumination in an ultra-fast manner has been the quest for the Holy Grail in all-optical technologies since the invention of laser.
“This new class of time-varying media is the biggest leap forward towards the perfect optically controllable material in decades enabling a large variety of novel and exciting effects that scientists all over the world are rushing to attempt. This is a new age in nonlinear optics which targets full light-control without the need of slow electric signals.”
Scientists unlock new dimension in light manipulation, ushering in a new era in photonic technology
A lot of superlatives there. It sounds like a big deal. Whether we see it commercialized in our life time, or at least mine, is the question but it sounds like there will be massive focus on it. Computing with light offers huge advantages.