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Vortex Laser Successfully Scaled Down


Guest_Jim_*

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For our never-ending drive for faster computers and connections to be satiated, at least temporarily, it will become necessary to turn to new methods of communication. Already we have seen optical systems deployed to accelerate the Internet and more, but bringing similar systems into our computers has been proving very difficult. Thanks to researchers at the University at Buffalo though, we are closer to this high-speed future than ever before.

Light travels at a far faster speed than the electrical currents within our computer, so using it instead of electrons to connect the various chips and components in our systems could give a sizeable boost. But the devices for producing optical signals are sometimes too large to fit into computer chips and we are approaching the limit of how much information can be packed into an optical signal. The Buffalo researchers however have made an important discovery by shrinking down vortex lasers enough to be compatible with computer chips.

Vortex lasers use light's orbital angular momentum to cause the light waves to twist in a corkscrew shape, with a vortex at the center. Multiple corkscrews can be fit together in the same area without crossing each other, so these lasers are able to transmit up to ten times more information than a more traditional laser. Obviously such a device could go a long way in enhancing the performance of our computers and networks, and comes at a good time as we approach some fundamental limits in current technologies.

Source: University at Buffalo



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