Optical Antennae Amplify LEDs for Fast Interconnects

Because lasers are fast—their transmission rate can reach 50 gigahertz—they are widely used for data transmission. Now researchers from the University of California at Berkeley and Bell Labs, Alcatel Lucent at Homdel in New Jersey have shown that by equipping light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with tiny antennae, they will be able to match and even surpass transmission speeds of semiconductor lasers, which would be especially useful over short distances.