Sending data over a great distance is not a problem, which the present optical networks like the Internet, are doing so successfully. However, it is time to consider some faults in this method - like generation of heat and a low rate of only 10 gigabits of information per second. Conversion of optical bits into electric signals for short term storage and then turning them back into optical signals to be read, takes time, which is responsible for slow processing.
But now, Daniel Gauthier, at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, and his colleagues have demonstrated a more efficient way to do all that.
The concept includes storage of information inside a fiber optic cable by turning it into a high-frequency sound wave. A standard optical fiber was delivered with optical data in the form of stream of light pulses into a short piece of standard optical fiber. When another pulse, called the ‘write’ pulse interacts with the earlier one, and interference pattern is set up in the fiber with areas of high and low intensity.
This ultimately results in generation of the acoustic waves due to phenomenon called electrostriction. The acoustic wave possesses a speed of 200 million meters per second, which is far more than current 5,000 meters per second of sound. To access the information, third pulse called ‘read’ pulse is introduced, which causes scattering of light in the affected part in such a way that the newly-formed data pulse leaves the fiber, resuming the journey in the same direction as the original pulse, carrying the same information with it.
While the technique can store information for about 10 nanoseconds, just a tiny fraction of a second, the result could be good news for future optical computers and high-speed optical networks. Among other advantages, it claims the same job at any wavelength and at room temperature, and also uses commercially available, low-cost materials.
Via: InventorSpot
