Optical Computer Technology
Optical Processors
The Basics:
Computing devices are based on electro-optical integrated circuits, which use light instead of electricity (i.e. photons rather than electrons) to manipulate, store and transmit data. They employ photonic crystal plates, which are stronger, cooler and have higher data transmission speeds than traditional electronics.
Photonic crystal plates (PCPs):
Photonic crystal plates consist of crystal plates coated with thin polymer photonic film. These plates are made by dissolving a base monomer in an organic solvent, which is placed in a growth cell with a crystal plate. The plate is painted with a laser, causing a thin polymer film to deposit in specific micron-sized, or smaller, patterns.This process is generally carried out in orbital factories due to convection problems. The organic films are more sensitive than inorganics to changes in light intensity and can perform a large number of functions such as switching, signal processing and frequency doubling while using less power than inorganic materials such as silicon. These films allow multiple frequencies of light to travel through the optical components without interference, allowing the photonic devices to process multiple streams of data simultaneously with much higher data rates for any one of these streams than electrical conductors, as well as avoiding the crosstalk difficulties of compressed electronics.
The typical operating speed for PCP processors is 10 petaflops per 1 cubic centimeter of volume. Advanced designs operate in the 100 exaflops range.
For smaller and/or slower applications, electronic GaAs IC chips are used.
Memory/Data Storage:
Data storage and memory technology are based on atomic holographic photonic memory crystals.
Computer systems almost always have a built-in block of onboard dataplates. Onboard dataplates are usually 16 PB and measure 2.5mm x 8cm x 8cm, but this can vary. They are arranged in banks that plug into the main circuitplate and are accessed by opening up the computer casing.
Standard datacards measure 2.5mm x 5cm x 8cm. Even though their total volume is 10cm3, only half of it is actually used, giving them a 40PB capacity. Datacards can be rewritten an unlimited amount of times and do not suffer any data degradation over time. Standard datacard readers (datacard read/write devices) consist of a 2.5mm x 5cm slot which the datacard is inserted into completely.
Standard datachips are 2.5mm x 1cm x 1cm and have a 2 PB capacity. Datachips are usually used for small devices such as wristcomps or subdermacomps. Other than their size, they function the same as datacards. Datachip readers are simply a tiny 2.5mm x 1cm slot.
Software
Programs are not simple text datafiles or simple databases; they may include artificial intelligence, voice recognition, video-recorded visual display imagery, and image recognition, at resolutions where pixels cannot be distinguished and sounds do not sound processed.
