The current information age is built upon a skeletal framework of fiber optic cables capable of delivering data across vast distances at mind-boggling speeds. This modern day miracle is achieved by encoding laser light and sending it through these optic superhighways, but as the world marches boldly into the future, these networks will need to find innovative ways to keep up with ever-increasing data demands.
Researchers at the Department of Applied Physics at Aalto University in Finland have a tempestuous idea that could possibly make optic cables even better at transmitting vast amounts of data. Described as a “hurricane of light” or a vortex, this technique relies on the manipulation of nanoparticles within an electric field to form geometries known as quasicrystals. These structures resemble tropical hurricanes with arrays of light surrounding dark “eyes” caused by the electric fields.
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