2017-09-27, 10:35 PM
Move towards 'holy grail' of computing by creation of brain-like photonic microchips
Scientists have made a crucial step towards unlocking the "holy grail" of computing - microchips that mimic the way the human brain works to store and process information. A research team, including Professor C. David Wright from the University of Exeter, have made a pioneering breakthrough by developing photonic computer chips - that use light rather than electricity - that imitate the way the brain's synapses operate.
The work, conducted by researchers from Oxford, Münster and Exeter Universities, combined phase-change materials - commonly found in household items such as re-writable optical discs - with specially designed integrated photonic circuits to deliver a biological-like synaptic response.
Crucially, their photonic synapses can operate at speeds a thousand times faster than those of the human brain. The team believe that the research could pave the way for a new age of computing, where machines work and think in a similar way to the human brain, while at the same time exploiting the speed and power efficiency of photonic systems.
https://m.phys.org/news/2017-09-holy-gra...tonic.html
The research is published in Science
Scientists have made a crucial step towards unlocking the "holy grail" of computing - microchips that mimic the way the human brain works to store and process information. A research team, including Professor C. David Wright from the University of Exeter, have made a pioneering breakthrough by developing photonic computer chips - that use light rather than electricity - that imitate the way the brain's synapses operate.
The work, conducted by researchers from Oxford, Münster and Exeter Universities, combined phase-change materials - commonly found in household items such as re-writable optical discs - with specially designed integrated photonic circuits to deliver a biological-like synaptic response.
Crucially, their photonic synapses can operate at speeds a thousand times faster than those of the human brain. The team believe that the research could pave the way for a new age of computing, where machines work and think in a similar way to the human brain, while at the same time exploiting the speed and power efficiency of photonic systems.
https://m.phys.org/news/2017-09-holy-gra...tonic.html
The research is published in Science