A new kind of optical fiber has been developed that will help to cut power consumption, speed up processing and boost bandwidth in future computers.

Researchers from Clemson University, South Carolina have developed the first optical cable with a silicon core.

These an increasing proportion of phone calls, internet traffic and TV shows is carried by optical fibers, as they provide much higher bandwidth than the old-fashioned copper cabling.

Though it’s not transparent, it carries much better signals than the present glass fiber-optics at some wavelength. It also allows light amplification as well as shifting from one wavelength to another.

It paves the way to use silicon optical fibers in signal processing functions that are done electronically or in isolate optical circuits these days. It will definitely increase the compactness and efficiency of electronic gadgets.

The commercial production of silicon fibers will create the opportunity for more compact devices with reduced power consumption.

The researchers believe that the technology will be made commercially viable during the next few years.