'Slow light' helps speed up the Internet

British scientists say network traffic will increase significantly by slowing down some parts of it and using "super-materials" to replace bulky, slow-moving electrons in data routing.

Typically, high-speed telecommunication lines, including fiber-optic cables spanning large distances, carry a multitude of different streams of information on different channels with different light frequencies.

When the data is near its destination, the light frequencies will be separated to the destination. This separation must rely on a giant device that takes the relatively close frequency band in the pulse to different detectors.

Design of " metamaterial " metamaterial. Photo: BBC

The light is then converted into electromagnetic signals, stored, routed and converted back into optical signals by lasers. It is this transformation that makes the process complicated and expensive and reduces the speed of data transmission.

"Light and fiber can reach a few terahertz, but that conversion makes the whole process only a few gigahertz," said Dr Chris Stevens of Oxford University.

At this time, "super-matter" (metamaterial - material that has its structure-based characteristics and not its composition) is an effective solution. If the light signal can slow down during the conversion process, one does not need to undergo the conversion of electromagnetic signals. The optical properties of metamaterials are intended to slow down light, making it possible to store.

"The ability to slow down light will be a strong driving force for the telecommunications industry to increase speed and performance," said Professor Xiang Zhang of the University of California. "With metamaterials, one can imagine the prospect of a single chip that would operate the routing process while now relying on giant systems."