The speed is twice the total amount of global Internet traffic that is sent every second.
Scientists at the Technical University of Denmark in Copenhagen and Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden claim they have achieved data rates of 1.8 petabits per second using a single laser and a single optical chip. This speed is twice the total amount of global Internet traffic that is sent every second. At any time of the day, the average Internet bandwidth used by the entire population of the world is estimated to be around 1 petabit/s.
The researchers used an optical chip that converts light from an infrared laser into a rainbow spectrum. The conversion is carried out using a special frequency comb, due to which light with one wavelength can be used to generate a large number of waves of different frequencies, which are suitable for data transmission over fiber optic cable.
Victor Torres-Company, professor at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden and lead researcher on the project, said the characteristics of the silicon nitride frequency comb are suitable for use in fiber optic data transmission. In addition, some of her characteristics were obtained by accident, and not by design.
The experiment was carried out at a distance of 7.9 km. The team of scientists expects that in the future, by scaling the optical chip, it is possible to increase the data transfer rate to 100 petabits per second.
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