ZBLAN @ University Adelaide Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing

Global internet traffic is transmitted through a complex network of undersea and underground fiber optic cables. These cables serve as the internet's backbone, linking continents and countries while transmitting data over vast distances.

As the demand for internet bandwidth worldwide increases, our existing fiber optic networks are struggling to meet these needs. The signal loss in these networks, constructed from silica glass fibers, has reached its theoretical minimum, making further advancements nearly impossible. To address this issue, Flawless Photonics, in partnership with the University of Adelaide and led by Heike Ebendorff-Heidepriem, is developing a new type of telecommunication fiber using a different glass composition, fluorozirconate glass, also known as ZBLAN.

Read Full Article Here: //www.adelaide.edu.au/ipas/glass-science-exhibition/zblan