| The key components of optical computers are photons, the particle form of light. (For details, see "Light: Waves or Particles?") Today's digital computers process data in the form of binary digits, or bits, which have a value of 1 or 0. However in quantum mechanics, it is possible to create photons having values not only of 1 or 0, but also of a combined 1/0 state, called "qubits" (quantum bits). These qubits will be the units used for processing data in the computers of the future.
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