TechBlog

As a step toward advanced nanotechnology, general methods for producing complex nanoscale structures in three dimensions are useful stepping stones from current nanotech to atomically precise functional nanosystems. Although the nanomaterials and nanostructures produced are far from atomically precise, a recently developed method of using a micropipette and rapidly drying ink to draw long fibers and complex 3D structures is an important advance.

Excerpts from a University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign news release “New process makes nanofibers in complex shapes and unlimited lengths“

The continuous fabrication of complex, three-dimensional nanoscale structures and the ability to grow individual nanowires of unlimited length are now possible with a process developed by researchers at the University of Illinois.

Continue reading ‘A nanotechnology based upon writing in 3D produces long fibers and complex structures’ »

Scientists have discovered a way of speeding up the production of hollow-core optical fibers — a new generation of optical fibers that could lead to faster and more powerful computing and telecommunications technologies.

The procedure, described in the journal Optics Express, cuts the production time of hollow-core optical fibers from around a week to a single day, reducing the overall cost of fabrication.

Initial tests show that the fiber is also superior in virtually every respect to previous versions of the technology, making it an important step in the development of new technologies that use light instead of electrical circuits to carry information.

These technologies include faster optical telecommunications, more powerful and accurate laser machining, and the cheaper generation of x-ray or ultra-violet light for use in biomedical and surgical optics.

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Dutch-sponsored researcher Christos Tsekrekos has investigated how a small network for at home or in a company can function optimally. His research analyses the MGDM technique (Mode Group Diversity Multiplexing) of the Eindhoven University of Technology. This technique transmits each TV, telephone and Internet signal via a separate group of light rays through the optical fiber cable.

 Such a technology has not yet been marketed. Yet in the ideal situation it could be applied in a glass or polymer fiber, has the potential of being cheap, and transmits all information without disruption.

Existing systems for small networks at home or in a company make use of multimode glass fibers or multimode polymer optical fibers (POF). The latter are relatively thick cables (about 1 mm thick, thus thicker than the glass fiber m thick). Multimode fiber cables can conduct many light rays and?which is 0.125 can operate free of disruption and with a greater bandwidth than a wireless connection. However, due to a slight variation in the speed of the light rays through the multimode fiber, a signal transmitted by all of these rays becomes spread out. Consequently, the signals become broader and therefore fewer signals fit in the fiber, limiting the transmission capacity.

Continue reading ‘Separate Signals Through Optical Fibers For Ultrafast Home Network’ »