Next-generation, low-power optical data transmission may rely on polarization rather than switching laser pulses on and off.  A new form of high-speed data transfer encodes laser light according to the oscillating polarization in the light beam, rather than its intensity. The polarization-based data transfer method can achieve 240 gigabits per second but generates only about 7 percent as much heat as a traditional connection running at 25 gigabits per second.

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