Breakthrough: Engineers Create Revolutionary Integrated Optical Isolator

Engineers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences have developed an integrated optical isolator that can improve the performance of optical systems used in telecommunications, microscopy, imaging, and quantum photonics. The isolator, made of lithium niobate, allows light emitted by a laser to propagate unaltered while redirecting reflected light away from the laser. The device offers the best optical isolation performance and competitive metrics in terms of loss, power efficiency, and tunability. The breakthrough could lead to smaller, more efficient optical chips and revolutionize various fields of work.