Story perspectives

Erbium-Implanted SiN PIC Enables 147 fs Pulses, 5 THz Spectrometer

6/4/2026

Summary

Researchers Build Ultrafast

Researchers built a mode-locked laser on erbium-implanted silicon-nitride photonic integrated circuit (PIC) that emits a 176 MHz pulse train.
The Mamyshev oscillator uses spectral filtering and self-phase modulation, needs no external seed, and produces 147 fs compressible pulses.
The source drives a supercontinuum in a Si3N4 waveguide, enabling a terahertz spectrometer at 5 THz bandwidth and 90-dB dynamic range.
Erbium implantation fits standard silicon-nitride fab lines, allowing wafer-scale production of integrated ultrafast lasers.

Summary

Researchers Enable

The researchers merged erbium gain with low-loss silicon-nitride waveguides, removing the low-energy limit that hindered integrated supercontinuum generation.
This breakthrough enables chip-scale high-energy pulses suitable for compact optical atomic clocks and on-chip precision metrology.
The CMOS-compatible process allows wafer-scale fabrication, promising lower costs and faster commercialization of ultrafast photonic chips.
Nanjoule-level, 176 MHz pulses could power portable eye-surgery devices and real-time chemical-reaction monitoring, previously limited to bulky fiber lasers.

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Researchers Build Ultrafast

Researchers built a mode-locked laser on erbium-implanted silicon-nitride photonic integrated circuit (PIC) that emits a 176 MHz pulse train.
The Mamyshev oscillator uses spectral filtering and self-phase modulation, needs no external seed, and produces 147 fs compressible pulses.
The source drives a supercontinuum in a Si3N4 waveguide, enabling a terahertz spectrometer at 5 THz bandwidth and 90-dB dynamic range.
Erbium implantation fits standard silicon-nitride fab lines, allowing wafer-scale production of integrated ultrafast lasers.

1 / 2