Using Atoms to Turn Optical Nanofiber Guided Light On and Off

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Since the optical nanofiber is directly connected to a standard optical fiber, the light can, in principle, be transferred to another quantum system or node some distance away, in the same way you can send a message from your computer to that of your friend's in another location.

"Using optical nanofibers would allow us to fully integrate our system with existing fiber-based communication networks. While the current work is far from being a practical solution to quantum information, it brings the notion of using atoms and light to develop real devices based on quantum mechanics ever closer to fulfilment", explains Professor Síle Nic Chormaic.

While the experiment at OIST currently only generates zeros/off and ones/on consecutively, further exploitation of the quantum behavior of atoms should allow the research team to send light as a combination of "on" and "off" at the same time. In this way, in the future, quantum networks will be able to process more data simultaneously, increase efficiency of information transfer and also provide better cyber security.

"It has been very exciting to work with optical nanofibers which can guide light extremely efficiently even if their diameter is much smaller than the wavelength of light itself. These systems are sure to give us significant progress in quantum networks in the years to come," enthuses Ravi Kumar, one of the authors of this study and a PhD student at University College Cork in Ireland, doing his research work at OIST.

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