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Optical Nanomodulator Produces Truly Digital Signals

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ZURICH, Feb. 9, 2016 — As data rates and volumes continue to rise, an optical modulator that operates at the individual-atom level could both reduce the size of and increase the efficiency of communication networks. The modulator is based on the voltage-induced displacement of one or more silver atoms in the narrow gap between a silver and a platinum plate. Courtesy of Alexandros Emboras/ETH Zurich. Within these networks, components called modulators convert electrical signals into optical signals; effectively, these are fast electrical switches that turn a laser signal on or off at the frequency of the incoming...Read full article

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    Published: February 2016
    Glossary
    nano
    An SI prefix meaning one billionth (10-9). Nano can also be used to indicate the study of atoms, molecules and other structures and particles on the nanometer scale. Nano-optics (also referred to as nanophotonics), for example, is the study of how light and light-matter interactions behave on the nanometer scale. See nanophotonics.
    plasmonics
    Plasmonics is a field of science and technology that focuses on the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and free electrons in a metal or semiconductor at the nanoscale. Specifically, plasmonics deals with the collective oscillations of these free electrons, known as surface plasmons, which can confine and manipulate light on the nanometer scale. Surface plasmons are formed when incident photons couple with the conduction electrons at the interface between a metal or semiconductor...
    Research & TechnologyEuropeSwitzerlandETH ZurichCommunicationsnanomodulatorsplasmonics

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