Soon, data may be sent 1,000 times faster
13.02.2020
Data could be transmitted a thousand times faster than current internet cables after a breakthrough, scientists have said. The new research uses terahertz quantum cascade lasers that could send data around the world at speeds unimaginable using current technology. The study, was published in the journal Nature Communications this week.
The study saw researchers make a breakthrough in the control of terahertz quantum cascade lasers, which they say could be used to transmit data at a speed of 100 gigabits. Current ethernet connections work at 100 megabits a second, a thousand times less quick.
To be used to send to data, the lasers need to be switched off about 100 billion times every second. That requires precise control, and engineers have so far been unable to do it. Now researchers think they have found a way of controlling that very fast modulation, using sound and light.
“At the moment, the system for modulating a quantum cascade laser is electrically driven. But the electronics that delivers the modulation put a brake on the speed of the modulation. The mechanism we are developing relies instead on acoustic waves,” said John Cunningham, a professor of Nanoelectronics.
When an electron passes through the optical part of the laser, it travels through a host of “quantum wells” that throw out a pulse of light energy. An electron can emit a number of those photons, and that is controlled — using soundwaves to vibrate those quantum wells — in the new experiment. But, the research is not perfect yet. THE INDEPENDENT
13.02.2020
Data could be transmitted a thousand times faster than current internet cables after a breakthrough, scientists have said. The new research uses terahertz quantum cascade lasers that could send data around the world at speeds unimaginable using current technology. The study, was published in the journal Nature Communications this week.
The study saw researchers make a breakthrough in the control of terahertz quantum cascade lasers, which they say could be used to transmit data at a speed of 100 gigabits. Current ethernet connections work at 100 megabits a second, a thousand times less quick.
To be used to send to data, the lasers need to be switched off about 100 billion times every second. That requires precise control, and engineers have so far been unable to do it. Now researchers think they have found a way of controlling that very fast modulation, using sound and light.
“At the moment, the system for modulating a quantum cascade laser is electrically driven. But the electronics that delivers the modulation put a brake on the speed of the modulation. The mechanism we are developing relies instead on acoustic waves,” said John Cunningham, a professor of Nanoelectronics.
When an electron passes through the optical part of the laser, it travels through a host of “quantum wells” that throw out a pulse of light energy. An electron can emit a number of those photons, and that is controlled — using soundwaves to vibrate those quantum wells — in the new experiment. But, the research is not perfect yet. THE INDEPENDENT
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