Chinese chip reaches 100 GHz without electricity

The new optical chip can reach a clock speed of 100 GHz, while currently, traditional electric chips usually have a clock speed of 2-3 GHz, the highest is only about 6 GHz, Interesting Engineering On 7/3 reported. New research has been published in the magazine Nature Electronics.

The central processor (CPU) is the core of a series of computing devices, from smartphones to chatbot equipped with artificial intelligence (AI), everything needs a processor that can run in parallel with many functions. The processor uses the inner clock signal to synchronize the functions. This signal also determines the operating speed of the processor and is usually measured in Gigahertz (GHz), each Giga indicates a billion cycles per second. The higher the Ghz of the processor, the greater its calculation.

The traditional chip uses an electronic oscillator to create a clock signal, according to Chang Lin, Associate Professor at the Institute of Information Technology and Communications of Beijing University. The limitation of this method is to consume large amounts of electricity, heat up and cannot increase the clock speed significantly. Therefore, the research team turned to lighting as a means of transmission and processing information.

Because light moves much faster than electricity, photons (or light particles) produce clock signals that can process information faster. The team created a racing ring on the chip, allowing the light to “run” continuously, then use the time of each round as the standard of the clock on the chip. Because the photons move at light rate, each round only takes a few billion seconds.

Traditional chips operate at a certain clock speed so applications cannot be synchronized at this speed will require other chips configuration, increasing production and calculation costs. In the new study, the group of experts developing a “micrococomb” on the chip can synthesize both broadband and single frequency signals, in which broadband signal provides reference clock for different electronic components of the system.

On a wafer (or semiconductor), the research team can produce thousands of new optical chips. These chips can immediately be used to implement user -friendly solutions. For example, the chip can be used for mobile phone communications on both 5G and 6G networks, increasing the network speed will not require updating phone hardware. Using optical chips in the original stations also helps reduce equipment costs and energy consumption levels.

In addition, the higher clock speed allows faster calculation, promoting AI to develop in a more energy -saving way. Application of new optical chips in automatic driving can increase accuracy and response speed.