Intel Corp (INTC)

[mike306oh]

I'm glad the Commpany did release the 3-rd PR shortly after I posted that Msg. Non tech people (and the financial gurus for that matter) have no idea about integrated optics, much less about all-optical computers, and why they are vadly needed. People are screeming for much faster, lower power computers.

They (we the People) will want (and we will) to access any cultural or sporting events on-line, much the same we do it with word data right now. Say you wish to see (wenever you want) a show from Moulain Rouge in Paris, or the superbawl, or whatever. You'll need much higher speed than electronics will ever be able to provide (even if III-V semiconductors such as GaAs, or InP are used instead of Si).

The RC of the electronic microchips (due to the combined resistance of all those wires connecting those near 1 Billion components, and the relativelly high-q dielectrics that separate those components), introduce delays and the only way to increase the spead is to reduce the combined length of the wires, and further reduce C. This means the critical dimensions of the components have still to go down a lot, and the number of components has to be further increased (up to 10 Billion proposed on that small area chip), on an even smaller chip area.

I agree that the all-optical chip development will not happen overnight, but I can assure you it will happen much soooner than people realize. And today's announcement (in Nature) is an important step in that direction.

Mike