Another Brain Claims Terabit Speeds

ORLANDO, Fla. -- A University of Central Florida laser scientist noted for inventing the first laser clock and producing the fastest laser pulse ever recorded has reached another milestone -- smashing the world record for laser data transmission with more than one trillion bits of data per second from a single device.The development paves the way for lasers to transmit informnation through telephone lines as fast as it travels within a computer, says Peter Delfyett, professor of optics, electrical and computer engineering and physics at UCF. Delfyett adds that his record marks the first time the terabit threshold has been crossed by a single laser diode. The previous record for data transmission from one laser diode was 300 gigabits (or 300 billion bits of data) per second, set in 2000."That's the key feature that makes this development of interest," Delfyett says. "People have done this before with 128 different laser diodes, but the cost of one laser diode is about $1,000. We're able to do it with one, so we're saving someone money somewhere."Other telecommunications companies, such as Lucent and NTT, are working on their own versions of multi-wavelength laser data transmission, but Delfyett says his version is more "wall-plug-in efficient," and has an excellent chance at being the industry standard within the next five years or so.Delfyett broke the data transmission record in his laboratory at UCF's Center for Research and Education in Optics and Lasers just a few weeks ago. He will be presenting his results at the annual conference of the Lasers and Electro-Optics Society, and has a paper on his results is forthcoming in his field's top peer-reviewed journal, "IEEE Photonics Technology Letters."Center for Research and Education in Optics and Lasers (CREOL) at the University of Central Florida