India Behind The Lens (News Centre)

Raj Dutt, an IIT-Kharagpur alumnus, and an Indian-American has developed a next-generation energy-efficient computer chip that helps computer processors consume up to 90 per cent less energy and run up to 60 per cent faster. The breakthrough technology by Dutt, Chairman and CEO of privately-held APIC Corp and Photonic Corp, has caught the attention of the Pentagon, which is testing its application in the ambitious F-35 Joint Strike Fighters.

The significance of the technology is that information transfer on the semiconductor chip as well as between components, will now be done using light - photons - instead of just electrons.

For electronics, cooling is one of the largest cost components. Photonic interconnects do not generate heat and use less size than electronic copper interconnects, so more transistors can be put onto a chip. Most significantly, Dutt claimed that they have figured out how to do this using the same economical process used in manufacturing semiconductor chips today.

Well aware with the potential of the computer chip, the US Department of Defence is fully supporting Dutt and his company.