Page 25 - Autumn 2024

manipulate the properties of light and can be used
to produce holograms. They have applications in
areas such as data storage, optical displays and
high numerical aperture lenses such as those used in
optical microscopy and sensing.
The researchers found that when each meta-atom
is carefully shaped to control the properties of the
The technology incorporates a proprietary closed- beam of light that passes through it, it behaves as
loop digital stabilisation system that actively a pixel of the HM. When light passes through the HM,
compensates for thermal drift, ensuring continuous, at each pixel, the properties of the light become
low-error transmission over wide temperature slightly modified. This makes it possible to create a
fluctuations. Architectural innovations make the pre-designed image on the other side, utilising the
Passage 3D CPO platform inherently polarisation principle of interference through which light waves
insensitive, ensuring robust performance even create complex patterns when they interact.
when the fibres are being handled or subject to
So far scientists have only been able to make very
mechanical stress.
simple shapes with OLEDs, limiting their usability, but
The combination of fibre bandwidth density, efficient with this advance miniaturised and highly integrated
spectral utilisation and robust performance are metasurface displays become possible.
seen as making Lightmatter’s Passage technology
foundational to the transition from electrical to
optical interconnects in AI data centres.
Nicholas Harris, Founder and CEO of Lightmatter,
states:

“Data centres are the new unit of compute in the AI
era, with the next 1000x performance gain coming
largely from ultra-fast photonic interconnects. One
16-lambda bidirectional link is an architectural leap
forward. Hyperscalers can achieve significantly
higher bandwidth density with standard single-
mode fibre, reducing both capital expenditure
and operational complexity, while enabling higher
‘radix’ - more connections per XPU or switch”.
Reference: Tyler, N., New Electronics, 19th. August

Holograms set to transform Smart Devices
Researchers from the School of Physics and
Astronomy at the University of St. Andrews have
created a new optoelectronic device from the
Andrea Di Falco, Professor of Nano-photonics at the
combined use of Holographic Metasurfaces
School of Physics and Astronomy, states:
(HMs) and Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs)
with the potential to transform smart devices, “Holographic metasurfaces are one of the most
communications, gaming and entertainment. versatile material platforms to control light.
With this work we have removed one of the
Until now, holograms have been created using lasers, technological barriers that prevents the adoption
but at St. Andrews researchers have found that OLEDs of metamaterials in everyday applications. This
and HMs are able to provide a simpler and more breakthrough will enable a step change in the
compact method that is potentially both cheaper architecture of holographic displays for emerging
and easier to apply, enabling hologram technology applications, for example in virtual and augmented
to be much more widely deployed. reality”.

OLEDs are thin film devices that are widely used to Professor Graham Turnbull, also of the School of
produce the coloured pixels in mobile phone displays Physics and Astronomy, adds:
and some televisions. They are a flat, surface-
“OLED displays normally need thousands of pixels
emitting light source that can also be used in optical
to create a simple picture. This new approach
wireless communications, biophotonics and sensors,
allows a complete image to be projected from a
and are very useful in the design of miniaturised
single OLED pixel”.
light-based platforms.
Reference: Wood, A., ‘Breakthrough to bring Holograms closer to
HMs are thin, flat arrays of tiny structures known Everyday Use’, Electronic Specifier, 27th. August
as meta-atoms that are about a thousandth of
the width of a strand of hair. They are designed to

25
Become a member: https://membermojo.co.uk/ie
Become a subscriber: https://membermojo.co.uk/subscriber
Become a sponsor: https://membermojo.co.uk/sponsor