RESEARCH: INTERNET CONNECTIONS AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT.

In road traffic, a vehicle can driven fast down a straight road, but has to slow down considerably when changing directions at a junction. The same thing happens with data circulating on information highways. Beams of light carry data at very high speeds along fibre-optic cables. When the data arrive at computers, known as servers, the servers redirect them to their final destinations. Presently, these light signals have to be converted into electricity, which slows down the process.

Electrons move at a speed of a few kilometres per second in a circuit, whereas light travels at nearly 300,000 km a second. Integrated optics would leave the data as light and simply channel it through the chip in the right direction. Scientists call this technology "integrated optics," referring to the integrated circuit board on which chips are mounted...