It is the first time that twisted light has been transmitted over a large distance outdoors, and could enable researchers to take advantage of the significant data-carrying capacity of light in both classical and quantum communications.<br><br>The results of the experiment have been published today, 12 November, in the Institute of Physics and German Physical Society’s New Journal of Physics.<br><br>Previous research has shown that if a beam of a certain colour, or wavelength, of light is twisted into a corkscrew shape, the number of channels that data can be transmitted through can be drastically increased. Instead of using one wavelength of light as one channel of communication, the light can be theoretically twisted with an infinite number of turns, with each configuration acting as a single communication channel.<br><br><a href="http://www.iop.org/news/14/nov/page_64430.html">READ MORE ON IOP | INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS</a><br><br>Ref: <a href="http://iopscience.iop.org/1367-2630/16/11/113028">Communication with spatially modulated light through turbulent air across Vienna</a> | Mario Krenn et al 2014 New J. Phys. 16 113028
