Due to its high data carrying capacity and low loss, light can serve as an ideal information carrier. However, due to the high speed at which it travels, light is difficult to store. Because the ability to store light is important for optical networks as well as long-distance quantum communication networks, researchers have been investigating various light storage techniques. While previous studies have demonstrated that light can be stored as acoustic excitations, spin excitations, and atomic excitations, scientists have now added storing light as mechanical excitations to this list.
The team of physicists, who are from the University of Oregon and the University of California-Merced, have published their study on storing optical information as mechanical excitations in a recent issue of Physical Review Letters. Read More:
