Built-in Germanium Lasers could make Computer Chips faster

Scientists investigated how they could make the semiconductor Germanium emit laser light and as a laser material, Germanium together with Silicon could form the basis for innovative computer chips in which information would be transferred partially in the form of light, said a study by Researchers of the Swiss Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI). This technology would revolutionize data streaming within chips and give a boost to the performance of electronics. The researchers have demonstrated that Germanium must be put under strain by an external force in order to turn it into a laser material. The decisive investigations were carried out by the scientists at the Swiss Light Source (SLS) at PSI and their results have recently appeared in the scientific journal 'Physical Review Letters'. The research was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). In 1965, Gordon Moore proposed a law stating that the surface density of transistors in computer chips - and consequently their computing power - would double every two years. This law has proved to be valid since the beginning of the digital age; that is, since the introduction of the first integrated circuits for micro-processors, in 1960. The researchers hope to achieve the necessary conditions for the Germanium in a follow-up project. For this, they will use a new technology that allows the strain to be greatly increased.