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Intel has developed a new type of computer processor that uses fiberoptics as opposed to silicon chips

Intel said the technical advance, in which the researchers use a component made from pure silicon to send data at speeds as much as 50 times faster than the previous switching record, is the first step toward building low-cost networks that will move data seamlessly between computers and within large computer systems.

“This opens up whole new areas for Intel,” said Mario Paniccia, a an Intel physicist, who started the previously secret Intel research program to explore the possibility of using standard semiconductor parts to build optical networks. “We’re trying to siliconize photonics.”