(ORDO NEWS) — The transfer of information is an important aspect of human life, and now we can accelerate this process.
Using one laser and one optical chip, the researchers were able to transfer data at a rate of 1.8 petabits per second.
One petabit is equal to 1 million gigabits, and this amount of information is equivalent to transferring twice as much global Internet traffic.
The achievement is incredible, and it’s all thanks to an optical chip that’s designed as a “frequency comb,” a device that can turn laser light into a rainbow of frequencies.
All frequencies are equally spaced (like the teeth of a comb), and each can transmit its own data stream, which is then transmitted via fiber optics.
Without this, it would take 1000 lasers to achieve the same data rate. Interestingly, it wasn’t built with fiber optic transmission in mind, that’s just fantastic.
“The feature of this chip is that it creates a frequency comb with ideal characteristics for fiber optic communication.
The chip has high optical power and covers a wide bandwidth in the spectral region, which is interesting for advanced optical communications,” said Professor Victor Torres from Chalmers Technological University.
The team also simulated the chip and demonstrated that it could eventually speed up transmission by more than 50 times.
The ability to use just one laser to move massive amounts of data would dramatically reduce the power requirements of telecommunications technology.
“In other words, our solution provides the potential to replace the hundreds of thousands of lasers located in Internet nodes and data centers that consume power and generate heat.
We have the opportunity to contribute to the creation of an Internet that leaves a smaller climate footprint,” added Professor Leif Katsuo Oksenleve from the Technical University of Denmark.
Currently, a team of experts is trying to integrate the laser and other components into the chip itself to make it more efficient and even less energy intensive.
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