Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

New Way of Observing Light May Boost Info Content

Posted by Cliff on from the dance-of-the-photons dept.

md_seymour observes: "Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day from NASA has a description and image of light that can twist as well as spin, based on research from Miles Padgett and Johannes Courtial of the University of Glasgow. They and their colleagues have apparently been able to sort individual photons by their orbital angular momentum. Since this characteristic of the photon is able to take on an infinite number of values, it may be possible to pack much more information into a light beam."

2 of 39 comments (clear)

  1. we should harvest this new light to make: by theMerovingian · · Score: 2, Funny

    STAR FIBER!

    Star Fiber Router could be called the "X-wing"

    --
    "If you think you have things under control, you're not going fast enough." --Mario Andretti
  2. Some light humour :) by stjobe · · Score: 3, Funny

    Measuring the orbital angular momentum of single photons is a "brilliant" achievement, says Keith Burnett of the University of Oxford.

    Not that I understand one bit of what they're talking about, though :)

    --
    "Total destruction the only solution" - Bob Marley