In a departure from conventional solid glass cores, the innovative optical fibers now incorporate an air core encased in precisely crafted glass microstructures to guide light. This advancement boosts transmission speeds by 45%, enabling greater data transfer over longer distances before amplification is required.
Petrovich et al. We report microstructured optical waveguides with unprecedented transmission bandwidth and attenuation. Image credit: Gemini AI.
Optical fibers in telecommunications have typically relied on solid silica glass constructs, and despite extensive refinements, their signal loss remains a critical challenge.
This results in about half of the light traveling through the fiber being lost after approximately 20 km, necessitating the use of optical amplifiers for extended distance communication, such as intercontinental terrestrial and undersea connections.
Minimizing signal loss can be achieved within a limited spectrum of wavelengths. This has constrained the data capacity in optical communications over recent decades.
Francesco Poletti and his team from the University of Southampton developed a new type of fiber optic featuring a hollow air core surrounded by intricately designed thin silica rings to effectively guide light.
Laboratory tests revealed that these fibers exhibit an optical loss of 0.091 decibels per kilometer at the commonly utilized optical wavelengths in communications.
Consequently, optical signals with appropriate wavelengths can travel approximately 50% farther before needing amplification.
This configuration offers a broader transmission window (the range of wavelengths where light propagates with minimal signal loss and distortion) than previous fiber optic technologies.
While this novel optical fiber may demonstrate lower losses due to the use of larger air cores, further investigation is necessary to validate these findings.
“We anticipate that advancements in manufacturing, geometric consistency, and reduced levels of absorbent gases in the core will solidify these new fibers as essential wave guiding technologies,” Reservers remarked.
“This breakthrough could pave the way for the next major advancement in data communication.”
Their study will be published in the journal Nature Photonics.
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M. Petrovich et al. Broadband optical fiber with attenuation of less than 0.1 decibels per kilometer. Nature Photonics Published online on September 1, 2025. doi:10.1038/s41566-025-01747-5
Source: www.sci.news
