Physicists at Stevens develop revolutionary optical communications technology
Dr. Rainer Martini says that he is often asked this question by friends and associates:
"Why haven't they run fiber-optic communications cable to my area yet?" Martini gives a simple prepared answer. "I tell them, 'Forget it. It's not coming. Ever.'"
Martini, an assistant professor of physics and engineering physics at Stevens Institute of Technology, bases his confidence on years of experience as a researcher in the area of Quantum Cascade Lasers (QCL). QCL is a rapidly developing technology for midinfrared semiconductor lasers. The prime innovation of QCL is the quantum harvesting and storage of electrons, allowing for a ready high-power, high-speed laser source.
After years of dividing his research between Lucent-Bell Labs and Stevens, this April Martini will unveil his own Stevens center dedicated to the technology: The Ultrafast Laser Spectroscopy and Communications Laboratory.
"The great advantage of QCL," he says, "is its demonstrated capability to create clear, ambient wireless transmission, even under the lowest visibility conditions in bad weather - with built-in spectral security features that allow targeted reception, as opposed to insecure 'broadcasting.'"
What is truly revolutionary is the "tailorability" of QCL wavelength, promising a new world of robust transmissions for multimedia.
"Compared with conventional laser transmission in free space optical systems," says Martini, "QCL is an improvement by 100 to 1,000 times, creating the prospect for ultra broadband capacity combined with high quality. This will ensure stable transmission and communication even in weather conditions like fog or rain, where actual systems still have problems to solve.
"In five years," he emphasizes, "this technology will be perfected for use in multiple telecom applications."
This is the source of his confidence regarding the dead-ending of fiber-optic cable in the "last mile" of the subterranean highway, once considered the future delivery route for data into private homes.
Quantum Cascade Laser technology is less than 10 years old. It was first proposed and demonstrated in 1993 at Bell Labs, New Providence, N.J., by Dr. Federico Capasso, who remains the premier expert in the field. Two and a half years ago, Cappasso hired Martini to work at Lucent-Bell Labs.
Simultaneously, Martini began his relationship with Stevens' Physics/Engineering Department, having come to the United States from the Rein-Westphalian Technical Institute in Aachen, Germany, where he performed pioneering work in Terahertz radiation and earned his doctorate. He has worked closely at Stevens with Dr. Ed Whittaker in the physics department, in collaboration with Capasso's team of experts.
Other major applications for QCL are in the areas of spectroscopy and materials testing - promising revolutionary advances also in these fields.
For more on the work of Dr. Martini and his team, please visit 155.246.65.27
About Stevens Institute of Technology
Founded in 1870, Stevens Institute of Technology is one of the leading technological universities in the world dedicated to learning and research. Through its broad-based curricula, nurturing of creative inventiveness, and cross disciplinary research, the Institute is at the forefront of global challenges in engineering, science, and technology management. Partnerships and collaboration between, and among, business, industry, government and other universities contribute to the enriched environment of the Institute. A new model for technology commercialization in academe, known as Technogenesis®, involves external partners in launching business enterprises to create broad opportunities and shared value.
Stevens offers baccalaureates, master’s and doctoral degrees in engineering, science, computer science and management, in addition to a baccalaureate degree in the humanities and liberal arts, and in business and technology. The university has a total enrollment of 2,150 undergraduate and 3,500 graduate students, with about 250 full-time faculty. Stevens’ graduate programs have attracted international participation from China, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America. Additional information may be obtained from its web page at www.stevens.edu.
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