Aussie scientists bend light

aussie minersPhysicists at the Australian National University said they’ve made a material which can put a perfect bend in light.

The device, called a topological insulator, has the potential to aid the telecomms industry to create a computer chip using light.

And Professor Yuri Kivashar, from the university, said the material may also have use in microscopes, aeriel designs and quantum computers.

He said that scientists had searched for similar materials in photonics, but they tended to use large complicated structures.

But his team have used a zig-zag structure to make a prototype of the materials.

The structure makes a coupling that prevents light from travelling through the centre and instead is channelled to the edge of the material. That lets light to be bent around corners without loss of signal.