扭曲和转移光线的新方法
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The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) recently conducted photonics research that may lead to new quantum technologies 和 telecom systems. The researchers discovered unexpected qualities in light that could, 从长远来看, lead to completely new electronic devices 和 applications.
Light is frequently used in electronics involved in 电信 和 计算. One good example of this is how light is used in 光纤. 光纤和 光纤电缆 are used to transmit many types of communication around the world, including telephone calls 和 互联网 connections.
正如在 物理评论快报, the NPL researchers studied whether 和 how light can be controlled in an optical ring resonator. This resonator is a tiny device that can store extremely high light intensities. In an optical ring resonator, wavelengths of light resonate around the device. A comparison would be how some “whispers” can travel around a “回音廊” 让对方听到你的声音.
在有史以来的一项研究中, the researchers used optical ring resonators to pinpoint the interaction of two kinds of 自发对称性破缺. The team displayed new ways to manipulate light by (1) studying how time varied between pulses of light 和 (2) how the light was polarized.
Typically, light follows what is called “time reversal symmetry.” This principle means that if time is reversed, light should return to where it started. 然而, 在国家物理实验室的研究, 在高光强下, symmetry was broken within the optical ring resonators. 该项目的一位首席科学家指出, when the ring resonator was seeded with short pulses, the circulating pulses inside the resonator would arrive either before or after the seed pulse. 然而, they would never arrive at the same time. This discovery could be potentially used to combine 和 rearrange optical pulses in 电信网络.
The researchers also learned that light can suddenly change its polarization in ring resonators. A related example would be you picking a guitar string in a vertical direction, but then having the string begin to vibrate in either a circular clockwise or counter-clockwise direction. The researchers believe that the results of these experiments will not only help to direct the development of improved optical ring resonators (such as for atomic clocks for exact time-keeping). They also feel that these findings will also help scientists to underst和 how they can control light in photonic circuits in sensors 和 in quantum technologies.
根据帕斯卡·德尔海的说法, 国家物理实验室高级研究科学家, 光学已经成为一个重要的组成部分 电信网络 和 计算系统. Underst和ing how we can manipulate light in photonic circuits will help to unlock a whole host of new technologies. These include better sensors 和 new quantum capabilities, which will become ever more important in our everyday lives.”
Researchers at Australia’s RMIT University recently discovered a new fiber optic breakthrough that could lead to 100 times faster