Slender, light-transmitting channels might someday replace many electrical wires as connectors between microchips. However, silicon components that could render such light-based connections affordable and easy to fabricate use excessive power and so produce excessive heat.
SHINING PATH. A matchstick-length silicon optical amplifier, touched by two copper probes, undergoes tests. Researchers have found a new way to run such amplifiers without wasting power.
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