Japan’s TDK is claiming a breakthrough in optical technology that would process data 10 times faster than current electronics and solve a key bottleneck holding back the growth of generative artificial intelligence.
The Apple supplier says it has demonstrated the world’s first “spin photo detector”, combining optical, electronic and magnetic elements to create response times of 20 picoseconds, or 20 trillionths of a second, potentially replacing existing semiconductor-based photo detectors that transfer data between chips.
Hideaki Fukuzawa, senior manager of TDK’s next-generation products development centre, said the speed at which AI processors could transfer data was severely limited by current electronics.