A new 100 gigahertz chip that harnesses light – not electricity – to synchronise processors could unlock the future of high-speed AI computing, next-generation communications and remote sensing, according to an international group of scientists led by China’s Peking University.

The researchers said the all-optical design redefined how clock signals were generated for chips, opening the door to faster, more efficient computing.

The main processor of any computer – its central processing unit (CPU) – relies on the steady pulse and specific frequency generated by a clock signal to synchronise its internal functions.

The speed of a processor – its clock speed – governs how quickly a CPU can execute instructions and is measured in gigahertz (GHz). For example, a CPU with a clock speed of 2 GHz can perform 2 billion clock cycles per second.

Generally, the higher the clock speed, the more instructions a CPU can execute in a given period, meaning greater computing capabilities.

The team, consisting of members from the state key laboratory of advanced optical communications systems and networks at Peking University, the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Aerospace Information Research Institute, and the University of California, Santa Barbara in the United States, published their findings in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Electronics last week.