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Scientists could transform internet by ‘steering’ light

Julie Hare
Julie HareEducation editor

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A faster, cheaper and more reliable internet is one of the myriad possible applications of a world-leading light-based technology developed by physicists at Australian National University and peers from Singapore, China and Germany.

The scientists have been able to control the direction in which light can, and cannot, travel at the nanoscale, and they say it could be the foundation of technologies not yet imagined.

Dr Sergey Kruk has developed a technology that can manipulate light at the nanoscale. Jamie Kidston/ANU

The new technology uses nanoparticles so small that about 12,000 of them can fit within a cross-section of a human hair.

“The particles control the flow of light like road signs control traffic on a busy road by manipulating the direction in which light can, or can’t, travel,” project leader Sergey Kruk said.

“Some particles allow light to flow from left to right only, others from right to left, or the pathway might be blocked in either direction.”

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Light “behaves symmetrically in a sense that if you shine a light from left to right through an object, it behaves in the same way if you shine it from right to left”, Dr Kruk told The Australian Financial Review.

“We wanted to achieve asymmetry, so that when you shine it left to right and then right to left you get two completely different results,” he said. “This is how electricity behaves.”

A concept image showcasing how the slides produce two different images depending on the direction that light travels through them.  

To illustrate the discovery, Dr Kruk and his team developed tiny translucent slides capable of producing two very different images by manipulating the direction in which light travels through them.

As light passes through the slide, an image of Australia can be seen, but when the slide is flipped, an image of the Sydney Opera House is visible.

Dr Kruk said the list of possible applications could be infinite, and the discovery could be as transformative as the development of diodes and transistors to control the flow of electricity.

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Processing information was one of the most obvious possible applications, he said.

“We exchange enormous amounts of information with the help of light. When you make a video call, say from Australia to Europe, your voice and image get converted into short pulses of light that travel thousands of kilometres through an optical fibre over the continents and oceans.

“Unfortunately, when we use current light-based technologies to exchange information, a lot of parasitic effects might occur. Light might get scattered or reflected, which compromises your communication.

“By ensuring light flows exactly where it needs to flow, we would resolve many issues with current technologies.

“Control over the flow of electricity at the nanoscale is what ultimately brought us modern computers and smartphones. It is therefore exciting to envision the potential of our emerging technology for controlling flow of light.”

The research, published in Nature Photonics, was a collaboration between the Nonlinear Physics Centre at the ANU Research School of Physics, Paderborn University in Germany, Southeast University in China and A*STAR Singapore.

Julie Hare is the Education editor. She has more than 20 years’ experience as a writer, journalist and editor. Connect with Julie on Twitter. Email Julie at julie.hare@afr.com

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