Rainbow-on-a-Chip Could Boost 6G Networks and Quantum Technologies
A grain-of-rice-sized microchip that generates a precise 'rainbow' of light could advance 6G communications and quantum timing, Loughborough researchers report in Nature Communications.
According to ScienceDaily, the team reported its results in a paper in Nature Communications. The system produces a series of precisely spaced light frequencies, which can then be converted into multiple high-frequency electromagnetic signals known as millimeter waves. Millimeter waves are attracting growing interest for future communications because they provide considerably more bandwidth.
Dr. Luke Peters of Loughborough University’s Emergent Photonics Research Centre said the frequencies “could ultimately contribute to faster, higher capacity 6G networks” but that “the potential goes far beyond communications.” He added that the frequencies could also be used in radar systems as well as spectroscopy and astronomical instruments, helping scientists study materials and make extremely precise measurements of the universe.
The technology is based on a microcomb, which generates an extremely precise set of light frequencies arranged somewhat like the colors of a rainbow, though the light itself is invisible to the human eye. A specialized antenna can convert those optical frequencies into millimeter waves. Earlier research demonstrated that microcombs could produce a single precise millimeter wave frequency; generating many frequencies simultaneously could be far more useful because each could potentially serve as a separate channel for transmitting information at the same time.
Achieving that required a microcomb with exceptional stability and signal quality. The Loughborough-led team’s new system connects its chip-based microresonator to a much larger loop of optical fiber, with laser light continuously traveling through both parts of the system.
The team acknowledges that practical applications are still some way off and that challenges remain before the technology can be used in real-world systems, but says the latest work has tackled a major one. The researchers are now investigating how the microcomb system could eventually move from a laboratory experiment into practical technology.