Integrated optical insulator

2023: Product Announcement

On June 29, 2023, American researchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) announced the creation of the first integrated optical insulator of its kind. The development is expected to increase the performance of optical systems in telecommunications, microscopy, imaging, quantum photonics and other fields.

Optical platforms use lasers to generate photons and beams of light. To prevent damage and instability, insulators are used that limit the propagation of light in undesirable directions. In addition, these components help reduce noise levels. However, conventional insulators are relatively bulky and require the connection of several types of materials, which prevents improvement in their performance. The new technology allows you to bypass these restrictions.

Integrated optical insulator

A team of specialists led by electrical engineer Marko Lončar has developed a method for creating a highly efficient integrated insulator that integrates into an optical chip made of lithium niobate. The device allows the light emitted by the laser to propagate unchanged, while the reflected light going in the opposite direction changes its color and is removed from the laser.

The development is said to provide the best optical isolation. In addition, the product outperforms its counterparts in a number of key characteristics, such as loss, energy efficiency and customization capabilities. An important advantage is also the simplicity of the design: in fact, it is a single modulator.

All previous attempts to develop something similar required multiple resonators and modulators. We were able to simplify the design thanks to the properties of lithium niobate, "says Rebecca Cheng, one of the authors of the study.[1]

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