Intel trumpets fastest silicon photonic detector in the world

Intel's research in the area of silicon photonics technology has yielded results in the form of a new silicon-based Avalanche Photodetector (APD) that the chip giant says is able to achieve a "gain-bandwidth" of 340 GHz. According to Intel, this is the best result ever measured for an APD performance metric and compares favorably against the performance of devices made with traditional--and much more expensive--optical materials the likes of indium phosphide. On the more practical side of things, such performance translates to the creation of high-performing optical devices. Essentially, the technology will pave the way for affordable optical links running at data rates of up to 40Gbps for data communications. Intel is a forerunner in researching new technologies, and other recent breakthroughs by the company include the creation of next-generation SSDs as well as cooling technology geared toward ultra-thin laptops.

To read more about this story:
- check out this article at the Register
- check out this article at TG Daily

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