Scientists have developed a silicon-less computer.
A team of international scientists gave created a computer which uses uses light waves through a single optical fiber.
The research team - which is Prof. Mario Chemnitz and Dr. Bennet Fischer from Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (Leibniz IPHT) - have harnessed the interactions of light waves within optical fibers to make an advanced artificial learning system.
This takes away the need for extensive electronic infrastructure, which is a change from previous more traditional systems relying on chips with thousands of electronic components.
Chemnitz said: "We utilize a single optical fiber to mimic the computational power of numerous neural networks.
"By leveraging the unique physical properties of light, this system will enable the rapid and efficient processing of vast amounts of data in the future."
The paper - which has been published in Advanced Science - has seen the method successfully applied in a pilot study which helped diagnose COVID-19 infections through voice samples given by the University of Cambridge.
Chemnitz added: "We are the first to demonstrate that such a vibrant interplay of light waves in optical fibers can directly classify complex information without any additional intelligent software."
