Computer engineers at the University of Utah announced a breakthrough on Monday, potentially paving the way for supercomputers that process data thousands of times faster than they do now.

Traditional computers process data by way of electrons, which travel through wired connections. But the engineers have developed an "ultracompact beamsplitter" that uses photons instead, creating light beams 50 times thinner than a strand of hair.

And because the beamsplitter itself is so small, millions of them could fit on a single computer chip.

Light is the only constant when it comes to measuring speed. There is nothing faster in existence. (There are some theoretical ways you could beat the speed of light, however.)

But for all practical matters, "light is the fastest thing you can use to transmit information," computer engineering professor Rajesh Menon explained in the group's report, which appeared Monday in the journal Nature Phototronics. "But that information has to be converted to electrons when it comes into your laptop. In that conversion, you're slowing things down.

"The vision is to do everything in light."

And the secret to doing that: The smallest polarization beamsplitter ever demonstrated.

Manon, who led the effort, estimates the beamsplitter technology could be used in supercomputers and large data processing centers in as little as three years, which would be spectacular if true. Further down the road, imagine consumer-friendly phones and tablets that are exponentially faster — yet have longer battery life because they need less power.