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Optical relay will help speed up the Internet

13.10.2012

A new micro-optical device, developed by researchers at the University of Minnesota, could significantly increase the speed of downloading files from the Internet, as well as reduce the cost of transferring data over the global network. The tiny device uses the power of light to switch a microscopic trigger at high speed. This allows the signal to be processed using light rather than electrical current, resulting in higher performance and lower power consumption.

The development of scientists is based on the discovery of 2008, when it was found that nanoscale channels can be used to create a force sufficient to mechanically move the optical waveguide. The new device succeeded in amplifying this effect so much that with the help of light it is possible to completely control the mechanics of the optical analogue of an electromechanical relay. In other words, scientists were the first to use the optical-mechanical effect to amplify optical signals without converting them to electrical ones. The new device has two optical waveguides, between which is placed a donut-shaped microscale resonator. This optical resonator amplifies light hundreds of times.

Due to the resonance effect, the optical signal in the first waveguide is greatly amplified in the resonator and generates a very strong optical power in the second waveguide. The second waveguide oscillates like a tuning fork and changes the properties of the optical signal. Since the power of the second optical signal can be many times higher than the first, the device functions as a mechanical relay that amplifies the input signal.

So far, the new optical relay operates at a frequency of a million cycles per second. The researchers plan to increase the frequency to several billion cycles per second. Although, it should be noted that the current indicators are high enough so that the optical relay can significantly increase the speed of information transfer.

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