100 times HDD speed possible thanks to lasers
The concept of light powered computing has surfaced again, this time thanks to a group of researchers at Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands. Using laser technology that we're not even going to pretend to understand, they've figured out a way of transferring data in speeds measured in quadrillionths of a second -- a measurement so fast even our spell checker doesn't recognize it. The technology is around 100 times faster than traditional magnetic storage methods, but it still has some way to go until it can replace your hard drive: for one thing, the researchers need to figure out a way to reduce the footprint of the laser, currently at an apparently massive 5 microns width. As always, we shall wait in anticipation for any developments.
[Via Slashdot]
