Scientists find new role for the swastika

March 1, 2005

University of Southampton 23.02.2005

Just a month after a call for a European-wide ban of the swastika,

scientists have found that the symbol has new applications in

optical communications and could have a role in quantum

cryptography.

Dr Darren Bagnall from the School of Electronics and Computer

Science (ECS) at the University of Southampton has found that he can

arrange tens of thousands of gold swastikas on a square millimetre

to form new optical metamaterials that act to artificially change

the polarisation of light, effectively "twisting" light in

accordance with the rotation of the swastikas. By changing the

degree of twist in a predictable way the chiral metamaterials can

provide an alternative way to code information that is being

transmitted using light.

According to Dr Bagnall, it is the special arrangement and

squareness of the swastika which makes it the ideal geometry for

their experiments. He comments: "The swastika has a number of

special features, it is entirely made up of vertical and horizontal

straight lines and it is square but can still provide the feeling of

left-handed or right-handed rotation known as chirality. It is this

chirality which causes our swastikas to twist light."

Dr Bagnall and his team are continuing to experiment with a wide

range of other chiral geometries such as, spirals, triskella and

some fractals and are very excited about the potential for use of

these chiral metamaterials in technology.

Dr Bagnall comments: `While we are still at an early stage in our

experiments, we can already anticipate applications in

optoelectronics, laser physics and optical communications. This is

especially true, as technologists are increasingly using

polarisation state as a means of carrying information in

applications such as quantum cryptography.'

report.de/html/berichte/physik_astronomie/bericht-40833.html

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