Save information as sound

2008/02/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Komunikazioak
• Irudiak/Soinuak

In optical fibers, information transported by pulses of light can be stored in sound waves over a period of time, according to an experiment conducted by a group of physicists at Duke University.

The information travels very fast when sent as lightning. However, once in destination it cannot be processed at the same speed. To avoid loss of information during arrival and processing, normally light becomes an electrical signal.

Thus, it can be stored in a short period of time and then converted into an optical signal and processed. This process has a side effect: it produces heat; more information, more heat.

The Duke University team was looking for another way to save information. Instead of turning the optical signal into an electrical signal, they turned it into a sound signal. To do this, they sent a short pulse in an optical fiber containing information, in the opposite direction of light. When the two pulses of light collided, they interacted and caused interference. These interferences affected the properties of the fiber, forming sound waves.

In 12 nanoseconds the sound wave could be maintained. Then they sent another short pulse. Upon reaching the part of the fiber in which the sound wave was, the sound wave was transformed into a luminous wave.