Intel has developed a cheap photo-based silicon.

Company Intel has developed a cheap avalanche photodiode (APD) for the transfer of information technology silicon photonics, said Cnet News, referring to the publication in a scientific journal Nature Photonics.
Typically, in silicon photonics are used fairly rare and expensive materials. For example, indium phosphide and gallium arsenide. Representatives of Intel managed to create an APD-based low-cost silicon and germanium.
In addition, the photodetector based on the new APD Intel has proved more powerful counterparts. This would allow, among other things, increase the distance at which information can be transmitted through it.
Currently, the test sample avalanche photodiode Intel makes it possible to transmit information at speeds up to 40 gigabits per second, that in two to three times higher data transfer rates of similar devices. The maximum data transfer rate, which is able to reach engineers Intel, experimenting with the new APD, at 200 gigabits per second.
The development of avalanche photodiode based on silicon, in addition to Intel, attended the company Numonyx, the management of advance planning defense and scientific research dollars, as well as the University of Virginia and California.
It is expected that the development of silicon photonics will allow chips to replace the metal connections to light. This is several times faster transmission of information. One of the promising areas for the use of silicon photonics are supercomputers.