Intel Unveils 40 Gb/s Chip

A laser modulator that encodes optical data at 40 Gb/s -- a significant
increase in speed -- was unveiled Tuesday by Intel researchers.

A photonic integrated circuit (PIC) could provide a cost-effective solution for optical communication and optical interconnects in the computing industry -- in the future, said Ansheng Liu, principal engineer at Intel's Photonics Technology Labs, in a blog post on the company's Web site.

"We have finally reached the goal of data transmission at 40 Gb/s speed, matching the fastest devices deployed today using other materials," he said. "With the demonstration of the 40 Gb/s silicon modulator and the electrically pumped hybrid silicon laser, it will become possible to integrate multiple devices on a single chip that can transmit terabits of aggregate data per second in the near future -- truly enabling terascale computing."