Researchers from Eindhoven University of Technology and the University of Central Florida employed a well-known but still cost-prohibitive technology; multi-mode fiber. Normal fibre optic cables contain thousands of strands of glass or plastic fibre which are slightly thicker than the thread of a needle. These fibers can, in essence, only carry the light for a single laser. The multi-mode fiber used by the researchers in contrast, has seven distinct cores in a hexagonal shape which are able to carry just as many distinct signals at one time. What’s more, they are squeezed down into the size of the same kind of fiber optic cables used to support the current transatlantic internet cables.
Posted on: Tue, 28 Oct 2014 22:03:56 +0000