Corkscrew light promises higher optical-communication data rates

Researchers have demonstrated that a photonic device can produce twisted pulses of light, meaning that their electromagnetic waves swirl in a vortex. The ring-shaped, microscopic ‘tunable vortex microlaser’ is a step towards faster optical communications. Contrary to the properties of light that are commonly used to encode information — wave phase and amplitude — vortices come in discrete types. This makes it harder to mistake one phase for another, which could help to increase the capacity of optical fibres.