UK scientists have used photonic crystal technology to develop a tiny optical switch for use in telecommunications and other small consumer devices that connect to an optical fiber and supply high data rates.
It is said to be the smallest optical switch in the world measuring just one tenth of the size of a human hair. Professor Thomas Krauss and his research team at the University of St. Andrews have designed this tiny optical switch, which can be used in telecommunications in routing optical signals. They made use of photonic crystal technology to diminish the size of the switch to wavelengths of light.
Thomas Krauss notes,
The switch is aimed at applications in telecommunications where we foresee its use in routing of optical signals. The idea of using fibre in the home or office requires small optical circuits that operate with low power. When these can be mass-produced in a cost-effective way it helps to keep the cost of the products down.
The optical switch is developed under the UK Silicon Photonics project, which is being sponsored by EPSRC.
Via: Nanowerk
