University of Southampton researchers develop superfast data transfer cable

A team of researchers at the University of Southampton has created a new kind of optical fibre capable of transferring data at a jaw-dropping speed of 10 terabytes (TB) per second.

According to a lead researcher Francesco Poletti, this translates into 99.7 per cent of the speed of light.

This is a significant improvement over the current optical fibre cables that transfer data at only 40 gigabytes (GB) per second, and that too with a very high latency rate.

The researchers were able to achieve this admirable feat as the speed of light in glass or silica is higher than in empty space. It can be up to 31 per cent faster in a right medium. The researchers took a clue from this natural tendency of light to travel faster, and created hollow fibre optics cables. This isn’t essentially a revolutionary idea. Others have tread on this path earlier. Previous attempts weren’t successful because bends and loops in the cable hinder flow of information.

This time the scientists looked for a way around and they were successful.

The researchers used a new kind of hollow-core design that uses an “ultra-thin photonic-bandgap rim.” In simple words, they created a new kind of cable that prevents light from unnecessarily refracting.

This idea worked. The cable have a very low latency rate. Data loss for these new cables is merely 3.5 dB/km. This is ideal for long network connections. Although the results of the research appear promising, it will be naive to expect a breakthrough in internet speeds in a few weeks. The cost of making these cables is prohibitively exorbitant. They are currently ideal only for giant data centres operated by behemoths like Google or various governments.

It seems the University of Southampton in England is on pills. The university researchers are announcing new revolutionary discoveries almost each week. First it was a cure to blindness, and now this amazingly fast data speed. Is the Nobel committee paying any attention?