Prof. Liu Renbao of the Department of Physics made a key breakthrough towards ultra high-speed optical communication that has potential to speed up the current Internet by 10,000 times. The research findings have been recently published in the prestigious journal Nature.

Professor Liu and researchers Ben Zaks and Mark Sherwin at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) used free electron lasers to irradiate a semiconductor device, and observed THz frequency comb, i.e., modulation of light at one trillion times per second (Tb/s). The observed THz frequency comb is a key element in future optical communication at Tb/s rate.

‘If such high-speed communication comes into being, one could transfer a whole quadruple-layer blue-ray disc or an electronic library of one million books in only one second,’ Professor Liu commented. This new technology has the potential to transfer data 10,000 times faster than copper cables, on which the current Internet is widely based. Researchers at the Centre of Optical Sciences of CUHK will continue to work with its collaborators at UCSB to conduct research.