Researchers propose computer that runs on light
An optical computer that’s much more powerful than existing electronic devices could be as little as ten years away, according to researchers from the University of Tokyo.
Image by University of Tokyo
An optical computer that’s much more powerful than existing electronic devices could be as little as ten years away, according to researchers from the University of Tokyo.
A novel optical computing method called diffraction casting promises faster, more power-efficient computers better suited for the high energy demands of rapidly emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI).
An approach proposed by the University of Tokyo’s research team harnesses light instead of electricity. Unlike traditional electronic devices, it operates efficiently without generating heat and is not limited by size constraints.
Much like stacking layers in Photoshop, diffraction casting uses layers of light to perform calculations. According to researchers, the method is particularly suited for image processing and machine learning tasks.
The method is inspired by an older optical computing technique from the 1980s called shadow casting.
However, diffraction casting improves on it by utilizing light wave properties rather than bulky geometric forms, which results in more spatially efficient and flexible computing elements.
The system is still in its early stages, but the team at the University of Tokyo believes that it may be commercially available within a decade and could pave the way for next-generation computing.
Lead author Ryosuke Mashiko said that diffraction casting would not replace existing computing systems but could complement them in specialized tasks and potentially revolutionize the field.
“I anticipate it will take around ten years to become commercially available, as much work has to be done on the physical implementation, which, although grounded in real work, has yet to be constructed,” Mashiko said.
“At present, we can demonstrate the usefulness of diffraction casting in performing the 16 basic logic operations at the heart of much information processing,” he said. The method could also go “beyond the traditional” and aid future technologies like quantum computing.
Quantum computing is widely regarded as the next frontier in computation, offering possibilities far beyond current systems' limits.
The method of diffraction casting is described in the paper published in Advanced Photonics, a peer-reviewed journal.