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'Paint-On' Laser Could Rescue Computer Chip Industry

eurekalert.org — Researchers at the University of Toronto have created a laser that could help save the $200-billion dollar computer chip industry from a looming crisis dubbed the interconnect bottleneck. "We've made a laser that can be smeared onto another material..."

Who dugg this? Made popular Apr 18, 2006

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  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9it's a press release not an article...
    they tend to be drier and picture free.
  • Dradis, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11I've already patented the idea of discussing ideas on Digg before patenting them. You are infringing my 'technology', and will be sued accordingly.
  • Smoov, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8"i didnt know the industry needed 'saving'"

    Semi-conductor technology is approaching several physical limits which will require new solutions if we plan to continue living under Moore's law. Breakthroughs like this one are far more important than 99% of the drivel that hits the Digg front page. Of course the hordes completely miss the importance of stuff like this while on their way to hoot and cheer like schoolgirls for Lepoard or Linux or whatever their pet cause is today.

    We need more articles like this to educate the proles beyond "Windoze sux dood!"
  • sremick, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7I don't know. Maybe if we do away with the silly "Moore's Law" we'll stop encouraging programmers to write sloppy, inefficient code. I'd love the day to come back where quality mattered. Of course the memory and hard drive industries aren't helping that any.

    Now that there is an industry for software that runs on the constraints of PDAs and cell phones, suddenly programmers are finding that their laziness in forgetting this "lost art" is finally working against them. They are used to the unlimited resources of a desktop PC. Some companies (ahem, Microsoft) simply try to port their bloated software into a limited device, with less-than-ideal results. Of course, the companies with the skills to do it right (Palm) get run virtually out of business by illegal monopolies, but that's a different digg discussion...
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8i didnt know the industry needed 'saving'
  • ElectricGrandpa, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5keep reading: "... from a looming crisis"
  • acontorer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4This is the most hype-filled press release I have seen in a long time for what appears to be fairly concrete research. Based on his website http://www.light.utoronto.ca/tsargent/biography.html it appears that Prof. Sargent is quite the self-promoter, but even so, this press release goes a bit too far. A short, technical, hype-free paper on the research is located here (PDF): http://www.ofcnfoec.org/materials/2006PDP7.pdf
  • shiftt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I think they only titled it so to grab your attention

    last I heard neither AMD nor Intel were having trouble keeping their factories open..
  • dhughes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2..not what I thought it was about ..doh!
  • tannergdog, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Laser Toast.
  • Yitch, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I work in the same photonics research group as Prof Sargent, but I'm supervised by a different prof. While it's true he's a good self-promoter, he has excellent students and post-docs (including Dr. Hoogland) doing cutting-edge research.

    Although it's true that the microelectronics industry is safe for another decade, the photonics industry, in particular telecom, has been crippled since 2000. It can only be positive news for our industry that people like Sargent are getting interest back in photonics so that we can rebuild our industry through investment in start-up companies.

    Here is a link to the Optics Express article (free online journal): http://www.opticsexpress.org/abstract.cfm?id=89312
  • ogletree, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1If they can't make faster chips they won't sell as many that is what they mean by "from a looming crisis". I have never had a chip die on me. The only reason I have ever replaced a chip is because I wanted a faster one.
  • creacher, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Well said, Smoov. I'm surprised this hasn't seen more diggs.
  • DigitalDud, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Yeah Intel is ready through 2010 or something like that.
  • xodex, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3it doesn't.
  • contradictator, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Interesting read, i'm curious to see how it will interact with other technologies planned down the road, like quad-core processors, strained silicon, maybe even diamond processing.
  • Coppertop, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Sweet - if they can get it to light up the outside of the tube instead of the inside, I can only imagine the sort of Minority Report fun we would have. Case modders rejoice!
  • Coppertop, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Seriously guys, I don't get it - how do you print light onto something?
  • norris, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2More like: 'Paint-On' Laser Could Rescue Laser Shark Industry

    Finally a humane way to create these man eating cyborgs.
  • Demarche, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Your comment got me to thinking about the approach this industry is taking to a potential crisis; they chose to innovate. Rather than contrive a market by imposing artificial limitations, they tackle the technological problem. It strikes me as sad, but this actually stood out from my admittedly pessimistic viewpoint. Kudos to these researchers and the industry that supports them.
  • cohortq, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1You are completely WRONG! We all know Al Gore invented it first!
  • Pictographer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Not printing light. Coating the inside of a tiny tube to make a laser light source. Almost like making incredibly tiny fluorescent light bulbs.
  • qw3tz3d, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0They could paint this onto a ball of crystal and make it into a device to see the future.
  • fabeetz, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Another optically-pumped laser stuck to Si. Yawn. No digg.
  • dstrek, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0Windoze sux dood!
  • demonicume, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1wow, good stuff. they could paint this onto a block of crystal and make it into a flat tv or monitor. they could suspend it in a... wait, lemme go patent my ideas before i spill the beans.
  • etx313, on 10/12/2007, -7/+2These scientists are a bunch of theives and liars! Steve Jobs invented this stuff!!!! STEVE DID IT *****!!!! [/sarcasm]
  • Raithmir, on 10/12/2007, -9/+3windoze sux.... er dood.

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