Scientists Embed Electronic Components Into Optical Fibers

Posted by Soulskill on Monday February 6, 2012 @09:32AM from the photons-and-electrons-living-together dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Scientists at the Universities of Southampton and Penn State have found a way to embed electronic components into optical fibers, in a breakthrough that could lead to the creation of super high-speed telecommunications networks. Rather than trying to merge flat chips with round optical fibers, the team of scientists used high-pressure chemistry techniques to deposit semiconducting materials layer by layer directly into tiny holes in optical fibers. This bypasses the need to integrate fiber-optics onto a chip, and means that the data signal never has to leave the fiber."

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All along the fiber, or just at the end? by johanwanderer · 2012-02-06 09:43 · Score: 3, Insightful

So, do they embed impurities all along the fiber, or just at the very end, where it gets snipped off and polished before being attached?

How much of the signal is "processed" (i.e. lost) by the electronics if they are sprinkled all through the fiber?

Interesting stuff.