The Internet is many times faster: how nanoparticles began to control the flow of light

Control light and nanoparticles to show different images, and then transmit other data to

Ultra-high speed — all this was done by the authors of the new work. 

The main thing about the new work of scientists

To understand exactly what the researchers did, think about a window.On one side of it is engraved an image, but on the other side the picture is completely different. 

This may seem impossible, but, in fact,these are the results obtained by scientists from the National University in Australia (ANU). The team has developed tiny, translucent nanoparticles that show two different images when viewed from different angles.

During one of the experiments, the scientists made a slide where the Australian continent was depicted at the same timeand the Sydney Opera House. 

A slide that shows two pictures at the same time

Discoveries in this field can be used to improve photonic computing, which uses visible or infrared light rather than current to transmit data. 

How it works?

Usually, light travels in the same way through the same material, such as glass or water. 

The researchers decided to reverse this process andhave developed tiny glasses that are coated with nanoparticles in the form of cylinders. To get a sense of scale, imagine that 12,000 of these particles could fit in the cross section of a human hair.

These nanoparticles controlled the flow of light, like road signs that give direction to traffic, explains physicist Sergey Kruk.

Schematic representation of how light travels

“We were able to introduce asymmetry into the way light propagates. So when it propagates forward/backward, we get completely different results,” he said.

The authors of the work call these "road signs" nonlinear dielectric resonators.

The cylinder-shaped nanoparticles were made of two layers of silicon and silicon nitride.Each layer had a different refractive index, which means that the lightwent through each Wednesday in a different way. 

Nanoparticles can be placed so that theyglowed or were dark when light passes through them forward or backward. It's like tiny pixels that either light up or don't light up. The authors made a pattern out of them, which together looked like a single picture.

“Images are usually made up of individual pixels. And we can assemble those pixels into any patterns you like,” Crook said.

Benjamin Eggleton, Director of the InstituteNanotechnology in Sydney, called this study a major result. This, he says, is important physics that can be used in different applications. The most obvious application, he says, is in nanophotonic components for computing.

Key element of electronic computing and complexmicrochip architecture - diode. It allows current to flow in only one direction. In photonics or light-based computing, an insulator is used instead of a diode.

According to Professor Eggleton, today's insulators are very bulky and difficult to manufacture, but the work of scientists at ANU canlead to the creation of small and simple designs. 

Photonic Circuits, or Optical Computingcalled the future of computing. They can be made smaller than electronic ones, and they also run at higher speeds, use less power, and generate less heat.

Many global quantum computing companies rely on photonic circuitry, Eggleton notes.

What about the internet?

There is also an opinion that the new technology will help make the Internet faster and cheaper. DoctorLei Wang of Southeast University in China said, "Although the purpose of these images is mainly artistic, they demonstratethe potential of this new technology.

"In real-world applications, these nanoparticles can be assembled into complex systems that will effectively control the flow of light - for example, in the next generation of communications infrastructure."

According to Dr. Crook, the ability to control the flow of light at the nanoscale ensures that light"He will go where he should go, and he will not go where he should not go."Thanks to this, it is possible to create a faster Internet connection that requires less electricity to maintain, notesteam.

For example, in 2020, scientists created a photonic circuit that transmitsOver fiber optics, 44.2 terabits of data per second over a distance of 76 km.That's about 1 million times faster compared to the average broadband download speed. 

Crook believes that physicists today have only begun to understand how intense light affects the structure of materials at the nanoscale.

"Today, scientists are incredibly good at controlling electric current, but we don't know much about controlling light rays yet.This research is perhaps the first important step towards creating a sophisticated device to control the movement of light rays.It's similar to mid-20th-century devices that controlled the movement of electric currents," Crook said. 

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