Page 24 - issue 19

24 Technically Speaking

Twisted Light

Beams Could

Make

Internet

100 Times Faster

The miniature OAM nano-electronic detector decodes
twisted light. (Image courtesy RMIT University

>> Source : RMIT Newsroom <<
roundbreaking new "Present-day optical communications as light in a state of orbital angular
technology could are heading towards a 'capacity crunch' momentum, or OAM.In 2016 the
allow 100-times-faster as they fail to keep up with the ever- same group from RMIT's Laboratory of
internet by harnessing increasing demands of Big Data," Ren Artificial-Intelligence Nanophotonics
Gtwisted light beams to said. (LAIN) published a disruptive research
carry more data and process it faster. "What we've managed to do is accurately paper in Science journal describing
transmit data via light at its highest how they'd managed to decode a
Broadband fiber-optics carry capacity in a way that will allow us to small range of this twisted light on a
information on pulses of light, at the massively increase our bandwidth." nanophotonic chip. But technology to
speed of light, through optical fibers. Current state-of-the-art fiber-optic detect a wide range of OAM light for
But the way the light is encoded at one communications, like those used in optical communications was still not
end and processed at the other affects Australia's National Broadband Network viable, until now.
data speeds. (NBN), use only a fraction of light's
actual capacity by carrying data on the "Our miniature OAM nano-electronic
This world-first nanophotonic colour spectrum. detector is designed to separate different
device, just unveiled in Nature OAM light states in a continuous order
Communications, encodes more data New broadband technologies under and to decode the information carried
and processes it much faster than development use the oscillation, or by twisted light," Ren said.
conventional fiber optics by using a shape, of light waves to encode data,
special form of 'twisted' light. increasing bandwidth by also making "To do this previously would require
Dr Haoran Ren from RMIT's School of use of the light we cannot see. a machine the size of a table,
Science, who was co-lead author of which is completely impractical for
the paper, said the tiny nanophotonic This latest technology, at the cutting telecommunications. By using ultrathin
device they have built for reading edge of optical communications, carries topological nanosheets measuring a
twisted light is the missing key data on light waves that have been fraction of a millimeter, our invention
required to unlock super-fast, ultra- twisted into a spiral to increase their does this job better and fits on the end
broadband communications. capacity further still. This is known of an optical fiber." >>> P26

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