Caltech’s tiny new chip can steer light in 74 quadrillionths of a second
Caltech researchers have developed a photonic device capable of steering light beams in just 74 femtoseconds by using optical meta-surfaces. This breakthrough bypasses the speed limitations of traditional electronic light-steering methods, which are often bottlenecked by electron relaxation times.
Why it matters
This technology could lead to significantly faster telecommunications, more powerful computing systems, and highly sensitive sensors by enabling near-instantaneous control of light.
Light can transmit huge amounts of information at extraordinary speed, which is why photonic technologies are being explored for faster communications, more powerful computing, and highly sensitive sensors. To make those systems work, however, researchers need precise ways to control the direction of light and change it extremely quickly.
Caltech researchers have now developed a device that uses one beam of light to redirect another in just 74 femtoseconds (74 quadrillionths of a second). That is roughly the amount of time light needs to travel across the width of a human hair.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in