WDM, a technique that allows a single optical path to carry thousands of parallel channels, as long as each is encoded in a slightly different colour.

ECONOMIST: Optical communications

Dr Lin is already testing a waveguide designed to steer light with a wavelength of 1.5 microns, and he is also working on three-dimensional waveguides made of silicon, which will provide almost total control over the path the light takes, and make really complex optical circuits possible.

ECONOMIST: New-age crystals