Microsoft and optical fiber

[John Clark]

Today fiber optic cables are made of thousands of hair thin fiber threads made of solid glass,  the average one loses about half their light every 15 km, 20 km for the very best. A start-up company called  "Lumenisity", which Microsoft bought in 2022, has invented a new type of tiny optical fiber that is not hollow but has a much more complex interior structure made of a series of even smaller concentric cylinders. The cross section looks like this: 

This new design only loses half its light every 33 km, can transmit 1000 times more power than a solid fiber, has a wide frequency range, and perhaps most important of all can transmit a signal 45% faster than a solid glass fiber. Microsoft believes it can mass produce this fiber at a competitive price.  

It's interesting, Microsoft had a reputation of being a stodgy old company and Apple the fast-moving creative one, but Microsoft embraced AI early on and as a result it owns 49% of OpenAI, but for years Apple did nothing in AI and is now playing catch-up. Microsoft is also a leader in the race to build a quantum computer but Apple has ignored the entire field. And now we have this which may revolutionize optical communication. 

The following article is from the September 1, 2025 issue of the journal Naturephotonics:

Broadband optical fibre with an attenuation lower than 0.1 decibel per kilometre

John K Clark    See what's on my new list at  Extropolis

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4g2

[Brent Meeker]

On 9/5/2025 1:26 PM, John Clark wrote:

Today fiber optic cables are made of thousands of hair thin fiber threads made of solid glass,  the average one loses about half their light every 15 km, 20 km for the very best. A start-up company called  "Lumenisity", which Microsoft bought in 2022, has invented a new type of tiny optical fiber that is not hollow but has a much more complex interior structure made of a series of even smaller concentric cylinders. The cross section looks like this: 

This new design only loses half its light every 33 km, can transmit 1000 times more power than a solid fiber, has a wide frequency range, and perhaps most important of all can transmit a signal 45% faster than a solid glass fiber. 

That's hard to believe.  Optic fibers have an index of refraction of 1.44 to 1.50; so 1.45 times as fast is roughly c.

Microsoft believes it can mass produce this fiber at a competitive price.  

It's interesting, Microsoft had a reputation of being a stodgy old company and Apple the fast-moving creative one, 

They were creative in personal phones.  I never saw their computers as particularly creative.

Brent

3nn

4g2

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[John Clark]

On Fri, Sep 5, 2025 at 7:30 PM Brent Meeker <meeke...@gmail.com> wrote:

>>This new design only loses half its light every 33 km, can transmit 1000 times more power than a solid fiber, has a wide frequency range, and perhaps most important of all can transmit a signal 45% faster than a solid glass fiber. 

> That's hard to believe.  Optic fibers have an index of refraction of 1.44 to 1.50; so 1.45 times as fast is roughly c.

Yes but that's because the glass just confines the light, the fiber is mostly hollow so the light is actually traveling in a vacuum; well almost, it travels through a gas at atmospheric pressure. 

John K Clark    See what's on my new list at  Extropolis

esh

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