A new memory chip might blow the now-traditional SSD out of the water or even eliminate it altogether: introducing the light-based memory chip.
Created by and in collaboration with scientists from Oxford University and the University of Münster, with help from the Karlsruhe Institute in Germany and the University of Exeter, the volatile photonic chip (read: a light-based chip that does not need to be charged) uses waveguide tech — i.e., tech that utilizes particles of light and directs them through wave-like channels by using a silicone-nitride-based structure — as well as GST, a material or alloy made up of germanium, tellurium and antimony, which allows for easier wave travel due to the fact that it can change textures or states, becoming either malleable or crystalline.
While this particular chip is new, the concept is not: as Engadget pointed out, discs like DVDs use a similar type of waveguide system; the company IBM has also tried to produce a similar chip, but theirs needed a power source to charge and operate it, resulting in a dysfunction for memory use in any capacity. Adversely, the new light-based memory chip would outstrip a typical SSD in spades.
In a press statement issued about the chip, Oxford professor and engineer Harish Bhaskaran explained the reasoning behind researching an alternative to the SSD. "There's no point using faster processors if the limiting factor is the shuttling of information to-and-from the memory — the so-called von-Neumann bottleneck," said Bhaskaran. "But we think using light can significantly speed this up."
As an article written about the chip and published in the scientific journal Nature Photonics states:
"Photonic data storage would dramatically improve performance in existing computing architectures by reducing the latencies associated with electrical memories and potentially eliminating optoelectronic conversions. Furthermore, multi-level photonic memories with random access would allow for leveraging even greater computational capability."
Despite all of these advancements, we still have a long way to go, but Bhaskaran remains somewhat optimistic of future researching opportunities.
"These optical bits can be written with frequencies of up to one gigahertz and could provide huge bandwidths," added Bhaskaran. "This is the kind of ultra-fast data storage that modern computing needs."
Via: Engadget
