Caltech researchers have created a technique that allows light to travel across silicon wafers with extremely low signal loss, nearing the performance of optical fiber even at visible wavelengths. Achieving this level of efficiency on a chip marks an important step forward for photonic integrated circuits (PICs), enabling devices that maintain exceptional coherence while minimizing energy loss.
These advances could significantly expand the capabilities of on-chip technologies, supporting high-precision tools such as optical clocks for timekeeping and gyroscopes for measuring rotation, along with improving AI data-center communications and advancing the development of quantum computing systems.
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