Researchers develop all-optical switches that could lead to faster computer processors

(Nanowerk News) Conventional computer processors have pretty much maxed out their “clock speeds” — a measurement of how fast they can toggle on and off — due to limitations of electronic switching. Scientists looking to make improvements in computer processors have become intrigued by the potential of all-optical switching, which uses light instead of electricity to control how data is processed and stored on a chip. Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory and Purdue University have recently created a new kind of…