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One of the biggest problems with using direct optical (laser) links in free space (i.e. out in the open air) between sites is that atmospheric distortion (turbulence) over distance can create interference, which causes the data speeds to slow and stability to weaken. But a solution may have been found by a joint team at Wits University (South Africa) and the University of Bordeaux (France).
The research, published in Science Advances, demonstrated how it is possible to send a 270-metre free-space optical link between two points without needing complex systems to correct for atmospheric distortion. In this case, the test shot a laser beam across a university campus in Johannesburg.
In order to achieve this the researchers found a way of encoding information using particle-like topologies of light in the form of skyrmions (i.e. tiny, vortex-like magnetic swirl structures), which were found to be “highly resilient to the effects of real-world atmospheric turbulence“.