TotalRecall
10-28-2002, 06:49 PM
ST Microelectronics announced Monday that it has discovered a way to efficiently insert optical components onto silicon chips, a breakthrough that opens the door to cheaper, more power-efficient semiconductors.
Though other companies have been working in the same area, ST claims that its advance, which involves implanting rare-earth metals such as erbium and cerium into the chip, is the first to produce a focused beam of light that can be channeled to create effective signals.
Optical components exchange signals via photons of light. Silicon chips typically contain wires that exchange signals through electrons. By combining optical and electrical functions onto the same chip, the European semiconductor giant could not only create more efficient chips, it could reduce the number of chips inside of communications equipment or set-top boxes, which currently contain both optical and silicon processors.
Read more: C|Net (http://news.com.com/2100-1001-963620.html)
Though other companies have been working in the same area, ST claims that its advance, which involves implanting rare-earth metals such as erbium and cerium into the chip, is the first to produce a focused beam of light that can be channeled to create effective signals.
Optical components exchange signals via photons of light. Silicon chips typically contain wires that exchange signals through electrons. By combining optical and electrical functions onto the same chip, the European semiconductor giant could not only create more efficient chips, it could reduce the number of chips inside of communications equipment or set-top boxes, which currently contain both optical and silicon processors.
Read more: C|Net (http://news.com.com/2100-1001-963620.html)