Squishy Photonic Switches Promise Fast Low Power Logic

Photonic devices, which rely on light instead of electricity, have the potential to be faster and more energy efficient than today’s electronics. They also present a unique opportunity to develop devices using soft materials, such as polymers and gels, which are poor conductors of electricity, but are easier to manufacture and more environmentally friendly. The development of these potentially squishy, flexible photonics, however, requires the ability to manipulate light using only light, not electricity.In soft matter, that’s been done primarily by changing the physical properties of optical materials or by using intense light pulses to change the direction of light. Now, an international team of scientists has developed a new way of controlling light with light using very low light intensities and without changing any of the physical properties of materials. Igor Muševič, a professor of physics at the University of Ljubljana who led the project, says that he first got the idea