EMP on optic computers...

The Nomad · Post by **The Nomad** » 2003-08-04 01:44pm

What would be the expected effect of an ElectroMagnetic Pulse on hardware that uses photons instead of electrons ? Would optical computers shrug off this nuke detonation side-effect or die exactly like any other good ol' stuff ?

Illuminatus Primus · Post by **Illuminatus Primus** » 2003-08-04 01:45pm

Er what?

A photon pulse? Its called a heat flash, pal.

XaLEv · Post by **XaLEv** » 2003-08-04 01:58pm

EMP damages by inducing current in circuitry. As long as there's nothing vital in there that this can happen to, it should be fine.

Illuminatus Primus wrote:Er what?

A photon pulse? Its called a heat flash, pal.

Don't tell me you don't know what an EMP is.

kojikun · Post by **kojikun** » 2003-08-04 02:05pm

an EMP is an electromagnetic blastfront through an atmosphere caused by such dense plasma that as the charge dissipates it creates a kind of electrical shockwave. the rapid change i charge creates a massive electromagnetic field. That magnetic field generates electricity in wires, so much so that it destroys circuit board components, like plugging a lightbulb into a powersource that pumps way too much power. youll burn the components.

it IS possible to use photons to generate the same effect, however, with photons. microwaves, as you know, can heat up metal. well the reason is because they cause a good amount of commotion in the electrons. i have this cup that has gold foil on it, when i microwave it you can see a lot of sparks. whats happening is that the microwaves are pushing electrons around. thats like an electromagnetic pulse. the US government is actually developing microwave pulse bombs.

if you want to see how microwaves affect things, stick a video camera in a microwave. batteries will drain, and it will die, but it wont melt (yet).

TrailerParkJawa · Post by **TrailerParkJawa** » 2003-08-04 02:23pm

Even if you are using a computer that uses lasers for transmitting data some place along the line the signal is gonna get mux/demuxed into an electrical one. At that point, Id assume you would have your failure.

Warspite · Post by **Warspite** » 2003-08-04 02:24pm

The problem with an optic computer is that something must control those photons, I think they call it electronic components (:P).

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2003-08-04 03:04pm

There may well be some electronic components in it anyways (power source, for one), so it depends on how well its hardened.

Illuminatus Primus · Post by **Illuminatus Primus** » 2003-08-04 05:15pm

XaLEv wrote:EMP damages by inducing current in circuitry. As long as there's nothing vital in there that this can happen to, it should be fine.

Illuminatus Primus wrote:Er what?

A photon pulse? Its called a heat flash, pal.
Don't tell me you don't know what an EMP is.

I mis-read, I thought he was asking what would an EMP be like if it used photons instead of elections.

Anyhow, fiber-optics are still going to have electronics at some end, and thus will be affected.