May 22 2019
A research team has developed a light beam device that may be able to pave the way to clearer images of space, faster internet, and more comprehensive medical imaging.
The mode sorter splits a light beam into modes. (Image credit: University of Queensland)
University of Queensland scientist and optical engineer Dr Joel Carpenter partnered with Nokia Bell Labs to design a device to confront the challenge of splitting light into the shapes it is composed of, called modes.
Splitting a beam of light into colours is easy because nature gives you that one for free – think of rainbows or when light shines through glass at an angle. The mode sorter splits a light beam into modes, instead of pixels like a camera would, and this results in higher-quality imaging and communication. Our device performs a basic operation in physics, so it seemed a little strange to us that something like this did not already exist, as this topic had been investigated around the world for about 25 years.
Dr Joel Carpenter, Scientist and Optical Engineer, University of Queensland
Study co-author Nicolas Fontaine of Nokia Bell Labs stated the device could offer several benefits.
“Each of these modes can be its own independent channel of information, and with this device we can pack hundreds of modes into a single optical fibre,” Dr Fontaine said.
“This can greatly increase the amount of information that can travel through that fibre, leading to faster internet speeds for more people.
“We hope this device will aid many applications that work with light beams, due to its functionality and the relative simplicity with which it can be built.”
Dr Carpenter explained the mode sorter could enhance imaging quality, from small biomedical images to large astronomical images.
Just as an image can be made by adding a bunch of pixels together, we can make an image or beam by adding together a bunch of these modes. Some things are easier to detect if you look at the modes rather than pixels, because it is displaying the image in a different form. For example, modes could make it easier to detect an image of a planet orbiting a far-away star.
Dr Joel Carpenter, Scientist and Optical Engineer, University of Queensland
The paper has been published in Nature Communications.
Laguerre-Gaussian mode sorter (General Audience Version)