starship-design: Photonic Computers....

["L. Clayton Parker" <lparker@cacaphony.net>]

THE FIRST 3D PHOTONIC CRYSTAL operating at a
wavelength of 1.5 microns, the all-important preferred wavelength
for light traveling down optical fibers, has been devised by
scientists at Sandia (Shawn Lin, slin@sandia.gov).  Basically, a
photonic crystal is to light what a semiconductor is to electrons:
some photon energies are permitted while others are excluded. 
The exclusion comes about by a careful interleaving of materials
with very different indices of refraction.  The Sandia crystal is
actually a tiny pile of criss-crossed polysilicon rods with air in
between.  Photonic crystals will be ingredients in future optical
transistors---by deflecting light they will be able to act as optical
switches at THz speeds; by trapping light they will be able to
produce optical amplification within cavities.  The crystals will
also be part of other optical integrated circuit components such as
low-power nanolasers and as waveguides. (Optics Letters, 1 Jan
1999; see also Physics Today, Jan 1999.)

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            lparker@cacaphony.net

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