Scientists at Nottingham Trent University have used a groundbreaking technique for steering beams of light.
The discovery, published in international science journal 'Nature Photonics', presents possibilities for the development of a range of hi-tech products and innovations, including the potential for creating hi-speed optical switches that could be used for broadband internet.
By applying a voltage to a microscopically thin layer of oil, Dr Carl Brown and his colleagues have been able to create and control, on the surface of the liquid, wrinkles that redirect a beam of light passing through the oil layer.
The discovery makes use of a technique known as dielectrophoresis, which works against the surface tension of the oil to produce static and controllable wrinkles.
By varying the voltage applied to the device, the scientists can 'program' the size of the wrinkles on the surface of the liquid.
When a beam of light is shone through the oil it is diffracted by these wrinkles to controlled angles.
The wrinkles can be switched on within just 35 millionths of a second.
Dr Brown and his colleagues' findings have the potential for a number of uses in the modern world.
With broadband speed and network connectivity under continual development and improvement, the technique may hold the potential for developing rapidly responsive optical switches that can redirect the data transmitted via fibre-optic cables.
Devices currently in use often employ a mechanical method for re-directing data, but a device based around the new Nottingham Trent University discovery could potentially be quicker and less susceptible to failure.
This technology has the potential to underpin new developments in flexible electronic paper, mini projectors and many other applications where it may be desirable to steer beams of light, such as car headlamps.
The Nottingham Trent University team draws on the research expertise of academics from the university's School of Science and Technology.
Dr Carl Brown's background in liquid-crystal displays and optics inspired the initial idea, but it was his collaboration with Prof Glen McHale and Dr Mike Newton - both experts in liquid-to-surface interactions and electro-wetting - along with the work of PhD student Gary Wells, that led to the important breakthrough in proving the concept could work.
Painstaking research by Wells led to the method by which the oil could be spread thinly enough, eventually discovering that by applying special electro-patterns it can spread itself to the required thickness of less than a hair's width.
Having demonstrated the method can steer light in a controllable manner, the team will turn their attention to the practical applications of the technology.
In order to operate a device in any orientation, the work needs to be extended to creating a wrinkle on an interface between two liquids that don't mix but that do have a similar density.
