Superfast LEDs for Future Computers Set New Speed Record

An ultra-fast light-emitting device that can flip on-and- off 90 billion times a second and could form the basis of optical computing has been developed. At its most basic level, your smartphone's battery is powering billions of transistors using electrons to flip on and off billions of times per second. But if microchips could use photons instead of electrons to process and transmit data, computers could operate even faster. But first engineers must build a light source that can be turned on and off that rapidly.