Carbon Sciences Inc. has made good progress with the company’s graphene-based optical modulator that is currently under development at the University of California at Santa Barbara (“UCSB”).
An optical modulator is a critical fiber optic component for the encoding and transmission of digital data. Over the past number of months, the research team at UCSB worked extensively on the design and fabrication of a graphene-based optical modulator. The goal is to create a design that is ultrafast, low cost, and low power. During the process, the team developed a novel modeling technique that allowed for the precise calculation of optical waveguide properties containing graphene. This technique should theoretically enable more precise design and simulation of graphene optical devices, such as a modulator. The modeling technique and findings have been accepted for publication and presentation in the Advanced Photonics 2016 Congress, sponsored by The Optical Society.
In addition, the team reported that they would be able to fabricate a complete modulator device by the end of September 2016. Carbon Sciences recently extended the sponsored research program to September 2016, which will allow the team proper time to evaluate and characterize the modulator device, as well as make further refinements.
Bill Beifuss, President of Carbon Sciences, commented, “We are happy with the progress we are experiencing. It’s thrilling to witness this technology evolve and come to life. We look forward to continued progress from this project.”
Fiber optic technology, being the backbone of the Internet, has encountered explosive growth in Internet data, in large part as a result of an ever-growing number of Cloud-based services such as Netflix, Facebook, and Google. Consequently, the fundamental speed limits of current state-of-the-art fiber optic materials are being substantially challenged. In consideration, Management believes that new materials, such as graphene, must be explored and used to significantly increase the speed of data movement in the Cloud. The Company believes that graphene technology has the potential to revolutionize ultrafast data communication. Thereby unleashing a global era of high-resolution video on demand, high fidelity music streaming, high volume e-commerce and many more Cloud-based services.
