lifetime of sound waves tagged posts

Laser light generates and probes sound waves in the core of a fiber optic waveguide. Credit: Yale University

Yale scientists have shown how to enhance the lifetime of sound waves traveling through glass—the material at the heart of fiber optic technologies. Everyday experience tells us that glass (silica) is highly transparent. In fact, silica is one of the most transparent materials on earth. Light can propagate for tens of kilometers in silica before it experiences any appreciable weakening. This transparency, combined with glass’ formability and low cost, is why glass is used in so many of the fiber-optic technologies that shape the information age.

Yet silica also has a mysterious side. At room temperature, silica is an excellent acoustic material...