News in the computer field

1. Holography and Computer Memory. A new polymer to coat holographic plates - reoxane - has been developed. Reoxane will bring about many changes both in holography and in other areas—computers, for instance. These machines required devices with a huge memory capacity. It is now believed that holographic memory is more suitable for these purposes, as any data from it can be retrieved in a microsecond and the cost of this device will be comparatively moderate. The limit of reoxane memory has not been measured, but it is known that it is hundreds and possibly thousands of times larger than electronic memory.

2. Computing at the Speed of Light. A group of scientists of the Edinburgh University has been investigating the remarkable properties of an indium-antimony compound with a refractive index that varies with the intensity of light falling on it. They have found that a tiny increase in the light incidence can produce a large change in the light emerging. This brighter emerging beampersists even when the triggering light beam is reduced again in brightness. In this way the crystal acts as a switch and " remembers" the triggering light impulses. The group has incorporated these properties into new computer components, which operate on low-powered laser beams and can respond in picoseconds. So the modern electronic computer may be replaced by much faster equipment that uses optical devices. In the future such computers which include these optical devices will be probably called the optical computers.

3. Current Injection Logic Circuits. Scientists from the IBM Company have invented a new family of experimental computer circuits. Called " current injection logic" circuits, they operate in 13 trillionths of a second taking 7 picoseconds to perform their switching function and another 6 picoseconds to send an electric signal from one circuit to another.

In fact the speed of an electrical signal moving between these new circuits is only limited by the speed of light.

These circuits function at temperatures close to absolute zero (-273° Celsius), where many metals lose all resistance to electrical current flow. But these " superconducting" circuits operate three times faster than any of circuits previously developed. Because of their speed and low heat output the new circuits promise a future generation of more powerful computers.

Notes:

reoxane – реоксан (полимер)

an indium-antimony compound with a refractive index – соединение индия с сурьмой с показателем преломления

the light incidence – угол падения света

the light emerging – появление света

This brighter emerging beam – Этот более яркий появляющийся луч:

the triggering light beam – запускающий световой луч

current injection logic circuits – схемы с токовой инжекторной логикой