In a step towards this goal, engineers working at the University of Utah have developed an ultra-compact photonic beam-splitter so small that millions of these devices could fit on a single silicon chip.

The beamsplitter, claimed to be the smallest ever created at just 2.4 by 2.4 microns (about one-fiftieth the diameter of a human hair), is designed to divide incoming light waves in two, thereby creating two separate channels of separately polarized information. Combined with other photonics components that replace their electronic equivalents, such as transistors, diodes, and other semiconductor devices, the beamsplitter adds to the growing catalog of devices being created for future photonic computing.

"Light is the fastest thing you can use to transmit information," said associate professor in electrical and electronic engineering at the University of Utah, Rajesh Menon. "But that information has to be converted to electrons when it comes into your laptop. In that conversion, you're slowing things down. The vision is to do everything in light. With all light, computing can eventually be millions of times faster."