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ScienceDaily (Dec. 3, 2010) - IBM scientists have unveiled a new chip technology that integrates electrical and optical devices on the same piece of silicon, enabling computer chips to communicate using pulses of light (instead of electrical signals), resulting in smaller, faster and more power-efficient chips than is possible with conventional technologies.

Swiss researchers have reportedly managed to make germanium suitable for lasers, which is important to eventually enable microprocessor components to communicate using light that is 10 times faster than electric currents, essentially becoming much faster photonic computers.