Photonic Spin Device (IMAGE)
Caption
By encoding information in photons via their spin, photonic computers could be orders of magnitude faster and efficient than their current-day counterparts. Likewise, encoding information in the spin of electrons, rather than just their quantity, could make spintronic computers with similar advantages. University of Pennsylvania engineers and physicists have now discovered a property of silicon that combines aspects of all of these desirable qualities. In their experimental set-up, pictured here, they a silicon-based photonic device that is sensitive to the spin of the photons in a laser shined on one of its electrodes. Light that is polarized clockwise causes current to flow in one direction, while counter-clockwise polarized light makes it flow in the other direction.
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University of Pennsylvania
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