Counting the twists in a helical light beam: New device could help advance future optical communications

At a time when communication networks are scrambling for ways to transmit more data over limited bandwidth, a type of twisted light wave is gaining new attention. Called an optical vortex or vortex beam, this complex beam resembles a corkscrew, with waves that rotate as they travel. Now, applied physicists have created a new device that enables a conventional optical detector (which would normally only measure the light's intensity) to pick up on that rotation.

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