5 Links to Consider | August 28, 2024

A round-up of this week's compelling and considered clicks, compiled from The Absolute Sound's veteran staff of experts and reviewers.

1. Quantum Breakthrough: Scientists Use Sound Waves To Enable the Future of the Internet

   In a new study published in Nature Communications, scientists from Rochester’s Institute of Optics and Department of Physics and Astronomy describe a technique for pairing particles of light and sound that could be used to faithfully convert information stored in quantum systems—qubits—to optical fields, which can be transmitted over long distances.

   Using existing methods, surface acoustic waves are accessed, manipulated, and controlled through piezoelectric materials to turn electricity into acoustic waves and vice versa. However, these electric signals must be applied to mechanical fingers inserted into the middle of the acoustic cavity, which causes parasitic effects by scattering phonons in ways that have to be compensated for.

Researchers at the University of Rochester, designed acoustic cavities, or tiny echo chambers, to strongly couple surface acoustic waves with light. These devices are simple …