Despite the modern world relying heavily on digital optical communication, there has not been a significant improvement in the minimum attenuation—a measure of the loss of optical power per kilometer traveled—of optical fibers in around 40 years. Decreasing this loss would mean that the signal could travel further without being amplified, leading to more data being transmitted over longer distances, faster internet and more efficient networks.

"researchers claim to have made a breakthrough in hollow-core fiber (HCF) design…

The new design maintains low losses of around 0.2 dB/km over a 66 THz bandwidth and boasts 45% faster transmission speeds."

  • zaphod@sopuli.xyzEnglish
    7·
    7 days ago

    It’s not actually that novel, for RF applications hollow waveguides have been in use for ages, so doing that for the visible spectrum to get similar benefits is worth exploring.

    • rowinxavier@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      7 days ago

      Yeah, I’ve seen some applications of hollow waveguides before, but yeah, visible spectrum has potential applications and honestly, anything they can do to reduce the number of boosting stages the better.