IBM's CMOS Integrated Silicon Nanophotonics technology lets chips within a system communicate through pulses of light. The technology could be the foundation for computers that are faster, smaller, and more energy efficiency than anything currently available, according to IBM.

"Our CMOS Integrated Nanophotonics breakthrough promises unprecendented increases in silicon chip function and performance via ubiquitous low-power optical communications between racks, modules, chips or even within a single chip itself," said Yuri Vlasov, manager of IBM's Silicon Nanophotonics department, in a statement.

"The development of the Silicon Nanophotonics technology brings the vision of on-chip optical interconnections much closer to reality," said T.C. Chen, vice president for Science and Technology at IBM Research.