Scientists store light-based data as sound waves on computer chip

Scientists have for the first time been able to store light-based data as sound waves on a computer chip - a feat they compare to 'capturing lightning as thunder'.

Companies like IBM and Intel have pursued the goal for years without success.

The researchers hope the breakthrough could lead to the creation of computers in which data can safely travel at the speed of light.

The researchers used a chip made of chalcogenide glass, which provides optimal guidance of both optical and acoustic waves.

The chip, which operates at room temperature can be used with other computer components, which allows its easy integration into photonic circuits.

While light can serve as an excellent carrier of data, its speed can become a nuisance inside computers.

To help overcome the hurdle, researchers created an 'acoustic buffer' within the microchip, in which light was temporarily converted into sound.

Scientists from the University of Sydney have demonstrated the technological breakthrough in a new study, published in Nature Communications.

The transfer of information from light to sound and back again inside a microchip is critical for the development of photonic integrated circuits, microchips that can use light to manage data.

The chips will find application in telecommunications, optical fibre networks and cloud computing data centres where traditional electronic devices are susceptible to electromagnetic interference, produce too much heat or use too much energy.

''The information in our chip in acoustic form travels at a velocity five orders of magnitude slower than in the optical domain,'' said Dr Birgit Stiller, research fellow at the University of Sydney and supervisor of the project, www.cudos.org.au reported.