New approaches to optical systems open up solutions not previously available, particularly allowing low-cost high-performance functions.
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3D-printed optical microscope Key paper Cheap microscope kits: buy here
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Dynamical optical circuits Most information is sent as light through optical fibres, but processed and routed through electronic circuits. This conversion costs power (~10% of the world’s electricity) and speed. The internet is growing rapidly and shows no signs of slowing down. Our research aims to create faster, lower-power components that will route and process information directly as light, in optical circuits that can be rewritten as easily as changing the picture on a computer monitor. One way this will improve capacity is by allowing MIMO, a technique currently used to speed up wireless networks, to be used in fibre optic cables to boost their bandwidth. Using dynamic optical circuits, we can perform quantum optical experiments on light in many-dimensional quantum states. We aim to shape light through complex environments such as biological tissue andmicroscopic endoscopes, with applications in medicine and biology. This research area is led by Dr Richard Bowman |