Computing at the speed of light

University of Victoria researcher has patented LI-RAM, a breakthrough technology that will make information-processing faster, more energy-efficient and durable.

If you've ever complained about your computer being too slow, or your Samsung smartphone exploding on your face, or your tech needs having too large a carbon footprint, this is the news you've been waiting for.

A Vancouver-based researcher has just patented, according to CTV News, a "breakthrough material that will make computing faster, more durable and more energy-efficient". A supercomputer, effectively.

Natia Frank, materials chemist at the Canadian University of Victoria (UVic), said the material, known as LI-RAM (light-induced random-access memory), would use light to store and process data. Not electricity. This means computer processors would consume minimal power, discharge minimal heat and last longer.

Funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, this technology was developed in a bid to overcome the "power wall". On paper, it goes some way in succeeding at this — LI-RAM would use 10% less power as the prevailing standards, and process information faster.

Currently, information processing technologies use up about 10% of the world's electricity resource, according to UVic, which expects LI-RAM to cut this consumption by half.

Frank says the material in LI-RAM has the unusual quality of rapidly changing magnetic properties when hit with green light. According to a media release issued by UVic, “This means that information can be processed and stored at the single molecule level, allowing for the development of universal memory — a technology that has, until now, been hypothetical."

Besides its use for data storage in mobile phones, computers and other electronic durables, LI-RAM could come in handy "in medical imaging, solar cells, and a range of nanotechnologies".

Frank filed a Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Patent Application along with Green Centre Canada. She is currently "working with international electronics manufacturers", and expects LI-RAM to be commercialised in 10 years.