Intel is claiming a major breakthrough in using silicon to make optical components, a development that the company believes will lead to dramatic reductions in the price of high-speed data communications. The chip maker said it has succeeded in fabricating a silicon modulator - a key device needed to send data along fiber-optic cabling - that operates at a speed of one gigahertz. That is roughly 50 times faster than similar devices that have been fabricated so far out of silicon, the company said.

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