Transistors, the tiny switches that flip on and off inside computer chips, have long been the domain of electricity. But scientists are beginning to develop chip components that run on light. Last ...

A high-performance ‘photonic transistor’ that switches light signals instead of electronic signals could revolutionize optical signal processing. Electronic transistors, which act as miniature ...

Optical circuits use light instead of electricity, making them faster and more energy-efficient than electrical systems. Scientists have developed a first building block for photonic 'transistors' ...

Analog and digital optoelectronic sensors combine an LED and an optoelectronic integrated circuit in a compact package to enable optical encoders to provide absolute or incremental position detection ...

Two independent teams of physicists in Germany have created the first high-gain optical transistors that can be switched using a single photon. Based on ultracold atomic gases, the devices make use of ...

Researchers from ETH Zurich have recently managed to create an optical transistor from a single molecule in what is yet another important achievement on the road to quantum computing. Quantum ...

Optical encoders are critical components in systems with rotating shafts or parts. Optical rotary encoders are the most widely used way to transform mechanical rotary motion into electrical signals.

A component that could lead to the first practical all-optical transistor has been created by researchers in Ireland. Optical transistors control one beam of light using another beam and are analogous ...

Researchers in Switzerland have made the world's smallest optical transistor ever from a single dye molecule. The device, which works by weakening or amplifying a "source" laser beam depending on the ...

I want to write about something a little different this time. I removed the mechanical scroll wheel rotary encoder from a discarded optical mouse and used it in a little project. I really liked the ...