Optical Computing

The Future Of Technology

Cadet Satpreet Singh Cadet Siddhartha Bora Cadet Shubham Badola

3543/F/99 'X1' 3456/F/99 3465/F/99 'X1'
Indian Naval Academy Indian Naval Academy
Ezhimala, Kerala, India Ezhimala, Kerala, India
satpreetsingh2628@gmail.com shazcanu@gmail.com
siddhartha.bora78@gmail.com

Abstract—Technology advances every single day. With A) Electron Vs Photon

increasing needs and demands, we happen to Quantum theory tells us that light has the properties of both
live in an era where computing is taking new meanings and is
waves and particles. When discussing its particle nature, we
manifesting itself in new spheres of activity by the day. In these
circumstances, the need for processing power will not be
call the particles "photons," However, because of light's wave-
neglected. Due to the limitations of nature, silicon can aid us in like properties, photons can do things that are impossible for
our needs for dominion only to such an extent. Nano-technology, typical particles-such as electrons. For example, thousands of
Molecular technology and quantum computing all have shown photons can pass through a single point simultaneously without
tremendous promise in being the next big wave of the future. interfering with one another. Photons can also travel faster than
However, while the former two are further branches down the electrons, which makes faster computational speeds possible.
same dead end road, the latter is unable to break the shackles of
science fiction in a convincing way. An intermediate step down B) Early Days
this road, we believe lies in the direction of optical computing.
The early optical-computer research In the 1950s was
With the exciting new discoveries that have captured the
attention of the whole world in the last year, no longer can we
performed using mercury-arc lamps and sunlight. The method
afford to let optical computing remain a term in the dictionary. If proved less than effective. Today, the laser (invented in 1960)
we are to remain competent, the future lies that way. is the key to optical computing. A laser produces a single
coherent beam of light (all the light has the same frequency,
energy phase, and direction) that is used to transmit optical
I. INTRODUCTION information in a concise, coherent, and controlled manner.
Although the speed of computers was achieved by scaling- Various attempts at building optical computers over the
down electronic components down to very small micron-size seventies and the eighties had some small successes, but the
scale, they are limited not only by the speed of electrons real advances had to wait for optical switches and
(Signals cannot propagate faster than the speed of light- semiconductor lasers.
Einstein) but also by the increasing density of inter-connections The problem with most lasers is that they are somewhat large.
necessary to link the electronic logical gates on microchips. An optical computer may need thousands or even millions of
The optical computer comes as a aid of miniaturization controlled laser beams. We can create them by splitting a single
problem. In optical computing, electrons are replaced by beam into as many beams as necessary, but that is a messy
photons, the sub-atomic particles of electromagnetic radiation approach. A better solution is provided by the semiconductor
that make up light. Optics, which is referred to as the science of laser.
light, is already used in computational requirements, mostly in The first semiconductor lasers worked by applying a current
the fiber-optic glass cables that currently transmit: data on through the alternating layers of gallium arsenide (GaAs)
communication networks much faster than via traditional semiconductor material, the steadily moving electrons generate
copper wires. Thus, optical signals might be the ticket for the in-phase photons, which emerge from the edge of the layered
fastest supercomputers ever. Electronic signals in chips travel semiconductor material as a coherent laser beam.
at snail speed as compared to light. Moreover, there is no such
thing as a short circuit with light, so beams could cross with no II. LITERATURE REVIEW
problem after being redirected by pinpoint-size mirrors in a The “ancient” history of optical computing is linked to that of
switchboard. In a pursuit to probe into cutting-edge research radar systems. Optical computing system received a great push
areas, optical technology (optoelectronic, photonic devices) is
from the invention of laser in 1960.In 1960s the first schemes
one of the most promising, and may eventually lead to new
for all-optical digital computers were proposed. In 1990s
computing applications as a consequence of faster processor
speeds, as well as better connectivity and higher bandwidth. emphasis has shifted tooptical interconnection of arrays of
semiconductor smart pixels. In most modern computers,
electrons travel between transistor switches on metal wires or
traces to gather process and store information. The optical microchips.The optical computer comes as a solution of
computers of the future will instead usephotons traveling on miniaturizing problem. Optical data processing can perform
optical fibers or thin films to perform these functions. But several operations in parallel much faster and easier than
entirely optical computer systems are still far into the future. electrons. This parallelism helps in staggering computational
Right now scientists are focusing on developing hybrids by power. For example a calculation that takes a conventional
combining electronics with photonics. Electro-optic hybrids electronic computer more than 11 years to complete could be
were first made possible around 1978, when researchers performed by an optical computer in a single hour. Any way we
realized that photons could respond to electrons through can realize that in an optical computer, electrons are replaced
by photons, the subatomic bits of electromagnetic radiation that
certain media such as lithium niobate (LiNbO3).Extreme
make up light.
miniaturization of tiny electronic components leads to „cross-
talk‟ –signalerrors that affect the system‟s reliability. Light
A) Some key optical components for computing
does not have the time response limitations of electronics,
does not need insulators, and can even send dozens or The major breakthroughs on optical computing have been
hundreds of photon signal streams simultaneously using centered on the development of micro-optic devices for data
different colour frequencies. Thoseare immune to input.
electromagnetic interference, and free from electrical short 1) VCSEL (VERTICAL CAVITY SURFACE EMITTING
circuits. They have low-loss transmission and provide large LASER
bandwidth; i.e. multiplexing capability, capable of VCSEL is a semiconductor vertical cavity surface emitting
communicating several channels in parallel without laser diode that emits light in a cylindrical beam vertically
interference. They are capable of propagating signals within from the surface of a fabricated wafer, and offers significant
the same or adjacent fibres with essentially no interference or advantages when compared to the edge-emitting lasers
cross talk. They are compact, lightweight, and inexpensive to currently used in the majority of fiber optic communications
manufacture, as well as more facile with stored information devices. The principle involved in the operation of a VCSEL is
than magnetic materials. By replacing electrons and wires with very similar to those of regular lasers. There are two special
photons, fibre optics, crystals, thin films and mirrors, semiconductor materials sandwiching an active layer where all
researchers are hoping to build a new generation of computers the action takes place. But rather than reflective ends, in a
that work 100million times faster than today‟s machines. VCSEL there are several layers of partially reflective mirrors
above and below the active layer. Layers of semiconductors
III. NEED OF OPTICAL COMPUTING
with differing compositions create these mirrors, and each
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The need for optical technology stems from the fact that
today‟s computers are limited by the time response of
electronic circuits. A solid transmission medium limits both the
speed and volume of signals, as well as building up heat that
damages components. One of the theoretical limits on how fast
a computer can function is given by Einstein‟s principle that
signal cannot propagate faster than speed of light. So to make 2) FSLM (SPATIAL LIGHT MODULATORS)
computers faster, their components must be smaller and there SLM play an important role in several technical areas where
by decrease the distance between them. This has resulted in the the control of light on a pixel-by-pixel basis is a key element,
development of very large scale integration (VLSI) technology,
such as optical processing and displays. For display purposes
with smaller device dimensions and greater complexity. The
the desire is to have as many pixels as possible in as small and
smallest dimensions of VLSI nowadays are about 0.08mm.
Despite the incredible progress in the developmentand cheap a device as possible.
refinement of the basic technologies over the past decade, there
is growing concern that these technologies may not be capable 3) SMART PIXEL TECHNOLOGY
of solving the computing problems of even the current Smart pixel technology is a relatively new approach to
millennium. The speed of computers was achieved by integrating electronic circuitry and optoelectronic devices in a
miniaturizing electronic components to a very small micron- common framework. The purpose is to leverage the
size scale, but they are limited not only by the speed of advantages of each individual technology and provide
electrons in matter but also by the increasing density of improved performance for specific applications. Here, the
interconnections necessary to link the electronic gates on electronic circuitry provides complex functionality and
programmability while the optoelectronic devices provide V. ADVANCES IN PHOTONIC SWITCHES
high-speed switching and compatibility with existing optical
media.
4) WDM (WAVELENGTH DIVISION MULTIPLEXING)

Wavelength division multiplexing is a method of sending

many different wavelengths down the same optical fiber.
Using this technology, modern networks in which individual Logic gates are the building blocks of any digital system. An
lasers can transmit at 10 gigabits per second through the same optical logic gate is a switch that controls one light beam by
fiber at the same time. another; it is ON when the device transmits light and it is OFF
WDM can transmit up to 32 wavelengths through a single when it blocks the light.To demonstrate the AND gate in the
fiber, but cannot meet the bandwidth requirements of the phthalocyanine film, two focused collinear laser beams are
present day communication systems. So nowadays DWDM wave guided through a thin film of phthalocyanine.
(Dense wavelength division multiplexing) is used. This can
Nanosecond green pulsed Nd:YAG laser was used together
transmit up to 1000 wavelengths through a single fiber. That is
with a red continuous wave (cw) He-Ne beam. At the output a
by using this we can improve the bandwidth efficiency.
narrow band filter was set to block the green beam and allow
only the He-Ne beam. Then the transmitted beam was detected
IV. OPTICAL INTERCONNECTION OF CIRCUIT BOARDS on an oscilloscope. It was found that the transmitted He-Ne cw
VCSEL convert the electrical signal to optical signal when beam was pulsating with a nanosecond duration and in
the light beams are passed through a pair of lenses and micro synchronous with the input Nd:YAG nanosecond pulse. This
mirrors. Micro mirrors are used to direct the light beams and demonstrated the characteristic table of an AND logic gate.
this light rays is passed through a polymer waveguide which
serves as the path for transmitting data instead of copper wires VI. APPLICATIONS
in electronic computers. Then these optical beams are again i. High speed communications-The rapid growth of
passed through a pair of lenses and sent to a photodiode. This internet, expanding at almost 15% per month, demands
photodiode convert the optical signal back to the electrical
faster speeds and larger bandwidth than electronic
signal.
circuits can provide. Terabits speeds are needed to
accommodate the growth rate of internet since in
optical computers data is transmitted at the speed of
light which is of the order of 310*8 m/sec hence
terabit speeds are attainable.
ii. Optical crossbar interconnects are used in
asynchronous transfer modes and shared memory
multiprocessor systems.
iii. Process satellite data

VII. MERITS
1. Optical computing is at least 1000 to 100000 times
faster than today‟s silicon machines
2. Optical storage will provide an extremely optimized
way to store data, with space requirements far lesser than
today's silicon chips.
3. Super-fast searches through databases.
4. No short circuits, light beam can cross each other
without interfering with each other‟s data.
5. Light beams can travel in parallel and no limit to
number of packets that can travel in the photonic circuits.
6. Optical computer removes the bottleneck in the developing new laser diodes, photo detectors, and nonlinear
present day Communication system) material studies for faster switches. Research efforts on
nanoparticle thin film or layer studies for display devices are
VIII.DRAWBACKS also in progress. At the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT),
A) Todays materials require much high power to work in Mumbai, efforts are in progress to generate a white light
consumer products, coming up with the right materials source from a diode case based fiber amplifier system in order
may take five years or more. to provide WDM communication channels.
B) Optical computing using a coherent source is simple
to compute and understand, but it has many drawbacks X. CONCLUSION
like any imperfections or dust on the optical Research in optical computing has opened up new
components will create unwanted interference pattern possibilities in several fields related to high performance
due to scattering effects. Incoherent processing on the computing, high-speed communications. To design
other hand cannot store phase information. algorithms that execute applications faster,the specific
properties of optics must be considered, such as their ability
IX. FUTURE TRENDS to exploit massive parallelism, and global interconnections.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology As optoelectronic and smart pixel devices mature, software
(http://www.deity.gov.in/content/photonics-development- development will have a major impact in the future and the
division) has initiated a photonic development program. Under ground rules for the computing may have to be rewritten
this program some funded projects are continuing infiber optic
high-speed network systems. Research is going on for