New material promises faster internet
2011-11-17 09:44 by Daniela
Tags: Internet, erbium
Arizona State University (ASU) researchers say they have created a crystal material that can enhance a range of technologies. The researchers believe that the material, called erbium chloride silicate, can be used to develop the next generations of computers, improve the capabilities of the internet, increase the efficiency of silicon-based photovoltaic cells and enhance the quality of solid-state lighting and sensor technology. "Since we could not dope as many erbium atoms in a fiber as we wish, fibers had to be very long to be useful for amplifying an internet signal. This makes integrating internet communications and computing on a chip very difficult," says electrical engineering professor Cun-Zheng Ning. "With the new erbium compound, 1,000 times more erbium atoms are contained in the compound. This means many devices can be integrated into a chip-scale system. Thus, the new compound materials containing erbium can be integrated with silicon to combine computing and communication functionalities on the same inexpensive silicon platform to increase the speed of computing and internet operation at the same time." Read more -here-
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