After 20 years, scientists finally shrink a powerful laser onto a chip
Key takeaways
- For decades, ultrafast lasers have been among the most powerful tools in modern optics.
- Despite their importance, these lasers have largely remained large, costly systems that occupy entire optical tables.
- Kippenberg at EPFL have achieved a breakthrough that could dramatically shrink the technology.
Why this matters: new research or scientific developments with potential real-world impact.
For decades, ultrafast lasers have been among the most powerful tools in modern optics. Their pulses last just a few hundred femtoseconds, or quadrillionths of a second, enabling technologies ranging from precision manufacturing and eye surgery to optical frequency combs, the Nobel Prize-winning innovation that powers the world's most accurate optical atomic clocks.
Despite their importance, these lasers have largely remained large, costly systems that occupy entire optical tables.
Now, researchers led by Professor Tobias J. Kippenberg at EPFL have achieved a breakthrough that could dramatically shrink the technology. Writing in Nature, the team reports the first integrated ultrafast laser capable of matching the performance of traditional tabletop femtosecond lasers. The device delivers pulse energies of 1.05 nanojoules and pulse durations as short as 147 femtoseconds, all from a photonic chip.