[colechristensen]

But light in free space travels 50% faster than electricity in copper and doesn't incur a heat load for the distance it travels. Likewise it carries more information than an electrical line.

Importantly as a counterpoint to

> the power efficiency of an electrical-optical-electrical transmission line is an order of magnitude worse than direct electrical transmission,

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> In contrast, semiconductors of main group IV — to which both silicon and germanium belong — can be integrated into the manufacturing process without any major difficulties. Neither element by itself is very efficient as a light source, however. They are classed among the indirect semiconductors. In contrast to direct semiconductors, they emit mostly heat and only a little light when excited.

>The scientists at Jülich’s Peter Grünberg Institute have now for the first time succeeded in creating a “real” direct main group IV semiconductor laser by combining germanium and tin, which is also classed in main group IV.