Twisted light now key to faster wireless internet

Though fiber optic lines maybe fast but they still require wires to transmit data. Scientists have discovered a way of eliminating cable along with increasing data transmission speed – through twisted light.

Scientists from UK have discovered a way to create wireless broadband technologies by ‘twisting’ photons (particles of light) that pick up more data into each transmission and also survives intrusion from unstable air. They researched about Optical Angular Momentum (OAM) and its use to solve out the existing problems with twisted light across open spaces.

The scientists aim to pass those twisted photons through a kind of hologram that will give the photons OAM. This will in turn provide users across the world with super-fast internet access.

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According to Engadget, where the traditional digital communications use photons as 1’s and 0’s for carrying data, the new technology would permit the photon to carry extra information by adding letters along with the numbers.

Researcher Dr. Martin Lavery exclaimed in a press release, “In an age where our global data consumption is growing at an exponential rate, there is mounting pressure to discover new methods of information carrying that can keep up with the huge uptake in data across the world. A complete, working optical angular momentum communications system capable of transmitting data wirelessly across free space has the potential to transform online access for developing countries, [defense] systems and cities around the world.”

Researchers successfully tested the technology that was effective across 1.6 km in Germany, making sure that the test was conducted in an urban environment where disturbance can be cause from taller buildings.

However, Futurism reported a few questions that could be raised with twisted light such as how will the weather conditions affect data transmission or how much information can be handled. Also, relying on photon clearly means that the technology can’t be used in transmitting indoors. Yet, Lavery thinks that their method can ‘give is the bandwidth of [fiber], but without the requirement for physical cabling’.