Search
Menu
Rocky Mountain Instruments - Laser Optics LB

Researchers Propose Lossless Nano-Optical Cables

Facebook X LinkedIn Email
EDMONTON, Alberta, Canada, Aug. 21, 2014 — New research proposes lossless nano-optical fibers small enough to replace copper wiring in computer chips.

“We’re already transmitting data from continent to continent using fiber optics, but the killer application is using this inside chips for interconnects — that is the Holy Grail,” said University of Alberta professor Dr. Zubin Jacob, whose team modeled the metamaterial fiber.

At present, fiber optic cables are limited to about a micron in diameter. The proposed fibers would be 10 times smaller, according to the researchers, and able to compress and contain light waves without creating heat, slowing the signal or losing data.

Integrating nanoscale electronics and conventional optics is restricted by the diffraction limit of light, the researchers said, adding that metals can confine light at the subwavelength scale but are susceptible to signal loss, while dielectrics do not confine evanescent waves, leading to cross-talk between components.

“What we’ve done is come up with a fundamentally new way of confining light to the nanoscale,” Jacob said.

The researchers propose fibers made with a silicon core and cladding integrating germanium nanowires and porous silica, which they said would control the optical momentum of evanescent waves, eliminating loss.

The researchers hope to use the new approach to develop a class of waveguides that outperforms the cross-talk performance of existing photonic structures by one order of magnitude.

The work was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Helmholtz-Alberta Initiative.

The research was published in Optica (doi: 10.1364/optica.1.000096). 

For more information, visit www.ualberta.ca.
PI Physik Instrumente - Revolution In Photonics Align LW MR3/24

Published: August 2014
Glossary
metamaterial
Metamaterials are artificial materials engineered to have properties not found in naturally occurring substances. These materials are designed to manipulate electromagnetic waves in ways that are not possible with conventional materials. Metamaterials typically consist of structures or elements that are smaller than the wavelength of the waves they interact with. Key characteristics of metamaterials include: Negative refraction index: One of the most notable features of certain...
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.
Americasfiber opticsmetamaterialnanoOpticsResearch & TechnologyUniversity of AlbertaZubin Jacob

We use cookies to improve user experience and analyze our website traffic as stated in our Privacy Policy. By using this website, you agree to the use of cookies unless you have disabled them.