Inefficient data transmission, fiber optics has long been the backbone of high-speed communication. But as the demand for bandwidth grows, researchers are looking for innovative methods to push the limits of current encoding techniques. Scientists at Aalto University have now developed a promising new approach: encoding data using “vortices” of light—small, spiraling patterns that could greatly expand the capacity of fiber optic data transmission.
The research team led by Päivi Törmä, has introduced a way to create light vortices by manipulating metallic nanoparticles. These light vortices resemble miniature hurricanes, with a calm center surrounded by a spiraling pattern of light. As Törmä explains, the study focuses on “the relationship between the symmetry and the rotationality of the vortex,” exploring how different symmetries in their quasicrystal design affect the kinds of vortices produced. This pattern, a blend of order and chaos, enables complex data encoding through intricate light patterns.
To achieve this, the researchers used quasicrystals—a unique arrangement of nanoparticles with a non-repeating, regular pattern. This layout offers versatility, enabling the creation of various light vortex types that can carry encoded information. Historically, the geometry of materials at the nanoscale determined the vortex type, with simple shapes like squares generating single vortices and more complex arrangements, such as octagons, producing more elaborate vortex patterns. However, the Aalto team’s quasicrystal design allows for the creation of vortices with any desired complexity, opening up vast new potential for data encoding.
In their experiment, the team carefully manipulated 100,000 nanoparticles, each about one-hundredth the width of a human hair. Instead of placing them in areas of high electric field vibration, where they would typically generate high-energy reactions, the particles were strategically located in “dead zones” with minimal interaction. This unexpected method allowed them to finely control the electric field’s influence, tailoring it to produce vortices with specific data-carrying properties.
According to researcher Taskinen, “We introduced particles into the dead spots, which shut down everything else and allowed us to select the field with the most interesting properties for applications.”
The implications of this discovery for data transmission are immense. Initial estimates suggest that this vortex-based encoding technique could increase fiber optic data capacity by as much as 8 to 16 times over current standards.
Arjas points out, that these light vortices could be transmitted through fiber optic cables, with their encoded information decoded at the destination, offering a substantial leap in both data storage and transmission within a smaller bandwidth.
This groundbreaking work, published in Nature Communications could shape the future of telecommunications.