Silicon photonics set to enable a range of new applications
In an ideal world, chip developers would be able to integrate the optical and electronic domains on one device without any difficulty. Silicon would support the logic, whilst photons would provide the communications since light moves faster than electrons.
Nature, of course, has different ideas about this - while silicon is ideal for making electronic devices; an indirect bandgap means it's not suited to photonics.
A lot of researchers have been pursuing ways to integrate the two domains, but progress hasn't been rapid. However, Intel has been working on the issues for more than a decade and says silicon photonics is 'nearly with us'.
When it does arrive, what might it enable? Many applications of silicon photonics will be associated with the various forms of cloud computing and with providing ever faster broadband, but there will be many broader applications.
Silicon photonics will be an enabling technology; when the tools are available, the applications will appear.