Cheaper & Faster Optical Fibers Possible Due To New Material
Communication through optical fiber is a preferred option over many other existing methods. Among the prominent advantages of using an optical fiber are the speed with which two people-poles apart can converse. However the human want to have even faster optical cables has resulted in development of a new kind of material. In a collaborative research by #-Link-Snipped-# and The Pennsylvania State University | Penn State, scientists have integrated the electronic chips with optical fibers to boost transmission speed.
#-Link-Snipped-#
Image Credit: Penn State University
The development of the new crystalline material is the result of challenges posed by the present optical fiber technologies. In conventional optical fiber technology, when two people are exchanging information the fibers are only a medium of transporting light. The conversion of light to electronic signals and reverse is a function of electronic Silicon chips. If these #-Link-Snipped-# could be embedded with transmitting line, it would mean high processing speed while the information is being sent.
This was difficult with the present setup as the thickness of optical fiber is around 1/10th thickness of Human hair. Moreover, the light-guiding pathways are even 100 times smaller than the optical fibers! Another difficulty was the fibers are round and cylindrical while the chips are flat. Addressing these challenges, the international team led by John Badding, a professor of chemistry at Penn State deposited semiconducting materials layer by layer with the use of high pressure chemistry techniques in to tiny optical cable holes. The junction thus build is an answer to the costly communication technology.
The research is expected to trigger improvements in improved telecommunications, hybrid optical and electronic technologies, laser technology and remote-sensing devices. As of now, the project is in the lab and it might take some time to be used in commercial applications. The team has published its findings in #-Link-Snipped-#.
#-Link-Snipped-#
Image Credit: Penn State University
The development of the new crystalline material is the result of challenges posed by the present optical fiber technologies. In conventional optical fiber technology, when two people are exchanging information the fibers are only a medium of transporting light. The conversion of light to electronic signals and reverse is a function of electronic Silicon chips. If these #-Link-Snipped-# could be embedded with transmitting line, it would mean high processing speed while the information is being sent.
This was difficult with the present setup as the thickness of optical fiber is around 1/10th thickness of Human hair. Moreover, the light-guiding pathways are even 100 times smaller than the optical fibers! Another difficulty was the fibers are round and cylindrical while the chips are flat. Addressing these challenges, the international team led by John Badding, a professor of chemistry at Penn State deposited semiconducting materials layer by layer with the use of high pressure chemistry techniques in to tiny optical cable holes. The junction thus build is an answer to the costly communication technology.
The research is expected to trigger improvements in improved telecommunications, hybrid optical and electronic technologies, laser technology and remote-sensing devices. As of now, the project is in the lab and it might take some time to be used in commercial applications. The team has published its findings in #-Link-Snipped-#.
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