Ultra-dense optical data transmission over standard fibre with a single chip source

Optical micro-combs are tiny optical structures that convert a single laser into many different wavelengths of light. These devices have been used in a wide range of exciting demonstrations, including optical communications. The key to micro-combs are optical resonator structures, tiny rings (see picture) that when hit with enough light convert the incoming single wavelength into a precise rainbow of wavelengths. This work uses a novel kind of micro-comb called a “solition crystal”, that produces 80 separate wavelengths of light that can carry different signals at the same time. To prove the micro-comb could be used in a real-world environment, we transmitted the data through installed optical fibres in Melbourne (provided by AARNet) between RMIT’s City campus and Monash’s Clayton campus and back, for a round trip of 75 kilometres and demonstrated data transmission at > 40 Tbps. A world record in terms of spectral efficiency on a standard optical fiber.

Read more at Nature Communications:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-16265-x

The paper was featured in CityU Research News:
https://www.cityu.edu.hk/media/news/2020/07/06/new-chips-accelerate-data-transmission

The paper was also featured in CityU Research Stories:
https://www.cityu.edu.hk/research/stories/2020/07/02/new-chips-developed-cityu-physicist-help-break-spectral-efficiency-record-optical-data-transmission

Please click the following links for media coverage: 

1. Australia 'records fastest internet speed ever' [BBC News] 2020-05-22 Technology
2. 'Fastest ever' internet speed capable of downloading 1,000 HD movies in under a second is recorded in Australia - and it is four million times faster than the country's average connection [Daily Mail] 2020-05-22 Science & Tech
3. Internet traffic is growing 25% each year. We created a fingernail-sized chip that can help the NBN keep up [The Conversation] 2020-05-22 Science & Technology
4. World's fastest internet speed from a single optical chip [Science Daily] 2020-05-22 Science News
5. Un record de débit Internet atteint par des scientifiques australiens [Radio-Canada] 2020-05-23 Techno
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13. 城大研究高速晶片 傳輸速度全球最快 [BASTILLE POST] 2020-07-06
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16. CityU scholars develops new data chips [OpenGov Asia] 2020-07-08 Digital Transformation