Discover how nanostructures are paving the way for a new era of ultrafast communication technology, enabling unprecedented data transfer speeds and capabilities.
Bridging the Gap between Optics and Electronics
Picture a planet where your phone can communicate at and process signals quadrillion times per second — about million times quicker than current technologies. As detailed today by Optica Publications, this is the premise of lightwave electronics, a new field emerging in recent years that promises to combine optical and electronic systems on ever-faster timescales.
Light-wave fields oscillate 100,000 faster than even that, a sub-femtosecond unit of time (one quadrillionth), and so possess the potential to encode on speeds well beyond those encountered in everyday electronics. This advance could, in turn, transform areas of spectroscopy, imaging and communications into the transmission and processing of terabyte data with instantaneous high-quality resolution.
Nanoantennae: Unlocking the Petahertz Potential
At the heart of this petahertz revolution is the invention of nanoantennae smaller than a single cell which, acting as frequency mixers, can convert signals between frequencies. Scientists at the MIT have achieved a major breakthrough in this direction, as they have made the world´n first electronic frequency mixer that works beyond 0.350 petahertz (PHz) — that quite simply is over one quadrillion cycles per second!
For example, although traditional frequency mixing techniques have long been confined to terahertz ranges, developments in nanotechnology have rekindled this avenue for exploration. So, for instance, these nanoantennae allow the mixing of different wavelengths of light in such a way that it is possible to read off signals that oscillate many orders of magnitude faster than what can be done using standard electronics.
Optical frequency mixing, which changes the frequency of light input to light output at a new frequency, is very different from the method demonstrated by the MIT team — only in that it uses a light-driven tunneling mechanism. The resultant high nonlinearities for frequency mixing and very straightforward electronic readout over nanometer scale devices. This advance opens the door to ultrafast signal processing in optical circuits made with conventional solid-state materials.
Conclusion
This accounts to a substantial advancement in communication technology, which can potentially lead to utilizing nanostructure-based lightwave-electronic frequency mixers. Their function is as a data processor and data transmitter, using the strength of optical buses (rather than printed conductors) to connect them to some number of external components, which they can process at high speedHeavy or even in real time(a)—performing operations at such frequencies (up to about 100 GHz-1 THz for logical and memory elements) that are impossible with electronic integrated circuits—and exchanging data with another chip independently (using free-space or guided-wave optics),One-chip-that-can-reduce-the-high-resolution-signal band thereby eliminating bottlenecks mechanical minutes delay between each component. In the future, thanks to a never-ending quest by researchers for what light can do next, we might even be able to harness lightning-fast oscillations of light as the engine underpinning our digital existence.
