Optical computing  From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump
to: navigation, search Not to be confused with optical computer
equipment, like optical mice, optical drives like CD and DVD-
ROMs.  Optical or photonic computing uses photons produced by
lasers or diodes for computation. Photons promise to allow a
higher bandwidth than the electrons used in conventional
computers.   Application-specific devices such as optical
correlators have been designed that use principles of optical
computing. Such devices can be used for detecting and tracking
objects, for example.[2]  Optical components for binary digital
computer[edit]  The fundamental building block of modern
electronic computers is the transistor. To replace electronic
components with optical ones, an equivalent "optical transistor"
is required. This is achieved using materials with a non-linear
refractive index. In particular, materials exist[3] where the
intensity of incoming light affects the intensity of the light
transmitted through the material in a