Plasmonic Circuit. A research team from ETH Zurich recently published an article in Nature Photonics that announced the discovery of a new technology that enables faster, cheaper data transmission. (via Nature Phontonics)
Networks may get an upgrade. A team of researchers from ETH Zurich recently developed a technology that may make the future of data transmission faster, cheaper and smaller than ever before.
Professor of Photonics and Communications Juerg Leuthold and his team of researchers recently released a seminal paper in Nature Photonics disclosing a new technology that can transmit data with a modulator roughly one hundred times smaller than modern methods. The new method can shrink modulators from a few micrometers to a few nanometers to allow faster and small transmission of data.
The research team discovered that surface-plasmon-polaritrons could be used to shrink light signals to a fraction of their normal size. Using this trick, they were able to send light signals as normal, shrink them down to enable movement through smaller electrical spaces, and expand them again later. The technology is similar to keeping a secret message in a small box, flattening that box so it fits between the crack of a doorway, and opening it up again on the other side. The technology minimizes the data without compromising it, and bypasses the limitations of current technology.
Leuthold plans to continue his research, although he has not disclosed the next step for his work. The current model uses gold, and is still more affordable than building current modulators. Perhaps various conductors will be used in future models and the team might attempt to build compatible hardware. These are all speculations, but one thing certain – if it comes to market, it’ll significantly change the way we transmit data every day.
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