All optical communications could become over ten times faster with optical transistors 5000 times faster than silicon

Researchers have created a new "plasmonic oxide material" that could make possible devices for optical communications that are at least 10 times faster than conventional technologies.

In optical communications, laser pulses are used to transmit information along fiber-optic cables for telephone service, the Internet and cable television.

Researchers at Purdue University have shown how an optical material made of aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) is able to modulate – or change – how much light is reflected by 40 percent while requiring less power than other "all-optical" semiconductor devices.

"Low power is important because if you want to operate very fast - and we show the potential for up to a terahertz or more - then you need low energy dissipation," said doctoral student Nathaniel Kinsey. "Otherwise, your material would heat up and melt when you start pushing it really fast. All-optical means that unlike conventional technologies we don't use any electrical signals to control the system. Both the data stream and the control signals are optical pulses."