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posted by CoolHand on Monday April 27 2015, @09:35PM   Printer-friendly
from the lasers-not-just-for-blasters-anymore dept.

City College of New York researchers have manipulated the polarization of a laser beam to create shapes that could boost data transmission rates:

Using special devices called "q-plates," the researchers manipulated a laser beam's polarization into novel shapes some of which Milione referred to as "radial" and "azimuthal." "While light's polarization (linear and circular) is used for many modern technologies, such as, 3D television, its shape is often left untouched," he said.

The researchers showed that each shape could carry an additional data stream. While the researchers used only four shapes, in principal, the number that can be used is unlimited. "The amount of data that can be transmitted on a single laser beam can be scaled to terabits or even petabits," said Alfano. "This technology is potentially compatible with building to building communication in NYC or even between Google data centers."

The research is published in Optics Letters [abstract].

 
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 28 2015, @03:02PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 28 2015, @03:02PM (#176092)

    If I understand it correctly, the new thing here is that they don't just polarize the light, but they use light patterns that are polarized differently at different parts of the fiber's cross section. That way they get more than the two distinguishable directions polarization normally gives you (note that I'm speaking about distinguishable directions; there are of course more polarizations than two, but they cannot be distinguished, as in, you cannot make a device that detects only one of them and not the other).