Brazilian insect may hold secret to optical computing

Posted at: 9:54am 27th May 2008 by James Morris

Scales of bug could provide structure for perfect photonic crystal

When scientists are stumped for a solution to a difficult problem, the natural world has a tendency to step in. Recent research reported in Wired hints that in a few years we could have a small Brazilian beetle to thank for the next big leap in computing power.

Optical technology has been a Holy Grail of computing for decades. It has allowed faster data transmission across long distances, and it has the potential to revolutionise computers themselves. Except scientists could only imagine the right crystal for the purpose, they didn’t know how to build it.

So where does the beetle crawl into the picture? Although diamond has the right structure, it’s too dense. But it turns out that the scales of the Brazilian beetle Lamprocyphus augustus may have all the right properties. Whatever angle the scales are viewed, they always appear the same shade of green. This turns out to be because they have the same structure as the carbon atoms in diamond, making them an ideal semiconductor mould to build the perfect photonic crystal

Optical computers have been a focus of research attention because they would allow three-dimensional chips. Whereas electrons interfere when their paths cross, photons don’t. So instead of making a wafer-thin chip, with transistors arranged in two dimensions, processors with a third dimension could be created. This would dramatically increase the transistor count. For example, a 45nm quad-core Intel Penryn has about 800 million transistors. But a cube-shaped three-dimensional processor with the same gate density would have over 22 trillion transistors. Or, to put it in other terms, it would be nearly 30,000 times more powerful.

An optical computer would have another important advantage, too. Wastage in the form of heat has become a major problem for current processor designs, hindering faster clock speeds and greater transistor densities. But it would not be an issue with an optical computer.

So the scales of this humble Brazilian bug could be the key for a revolution in computing power as great as the invention of the silicon chip. It will be quite some years before the research results in working CPUs. But it’s something to think about next time you crack open a can of fly spray.