<p>NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Researchers from Intel and the University of California Santa Barbara have created a silicon-based chip that can produce laser beams, a breakthrough that could greatly improve the speed and lower the cost of computers and communication networks.</p>
<p>The development makes it possible to use laser light rather than wires to send data between chips, addressing one of the major hurdles in advancing the use of so-called "silicon photonics" in computers and data centers, Intel said in a statement.</p>