New metamaterial-based strategy to combine and transmit multiple light modes

The past few years have seen a massive surge in the amount of data transferred and processed per second. Rapidly emerging technologies, such as high-dimensional quantum communications, large-scale neural networks, and high-capacity networks, require large bandwidths and high data transfer speeds. One plausible way to achieve them is by replacing the conventional metallic wires between the components in an electronic system with optical interconnects, i.e., using light instead of electricity to establish channels for data transfer.