An ultra-fast and ultra-small optical switch has been
invented that could advance the day when photons replace electrons in the
innards of consumer products ranging from cell phones to automobiles.
The new optical device can turn on and off trillions of
times per second. It consists of individual switches that are only one
five-hundredth the width of a human hair (200 nanometers) in diameter. This
size is much smaller than the current generation of optical switches and it
easily breaks one of the major technical barriers to the spread of electronic
devices that detect and control light: miniaturizing the size of ultrafast optical
switches.