A more flattering light

A groundbreaking form of 'flat' optical fibre has been developed and patented by

. It promises to be far more flexible and efficient than existing integrated opto-electronic systems, which couple rigid, glass-based substrates with lengths of optical fibre.

Although these are advanced, they are rather limited, according to Dr Corin Gawith, the project's leader from the university's Optoelectronics Research Centre.

'Advances in integrated optoelectronics have allowed us to combine many components and shrink them right down,' he said. 'At the moment these things are traditionally based on silicon so you end up with structures etched on to glass, which is very rigid and stable. To get light to and from these "light chips" you need to add optical fibres — and the problem with this is that the losses at the chips are much too high.'

This is particularly bad where the fibre and the circuit are joined, as a portion of the light is lost at each junction. Gawith said while this is not so much of a problem with single devices on a branch of fibre, if you want to perform multiple functions over large distances more information can be lost.