Catenaa, Saturday, December 20, 2025-Researchers have developed a chip-scale optical device nearly 100 times thinner than a human hair, advancing efforts to build large-scale quantum computers that rely on precise laser control.
The breakthrough, reported in Nature Communications, centers on a miniaturized optical phase modulator that can adjust laser frequencies with extreme accuracy.
Such control is required for trapped-ion and trapped-neutral-atom quantum systems, where lasers are used to operate and coordinate individual qubits.
The device generates microwave-frequency vibrations that oscillate billions of times per second, enabling stable and efficient manipulation of laser light.
By doing so, it can create multiple laser frequencies from a single source while consuming far less power than conventional equipment.
Unlike existing tabletop modulators, the new component is manufactured using standard CMOS fabrication methods, the same processes used to make mass-produced electronic chips.
That approach allows the devices to be produced at scale and integrated directly onto photonic circuits, reducing size, cost and heat output.
The research was led by scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder in collaboration with Sandia National Laboratories.
The team reported that the modulator uses roughly 80 times less microwave power than many commercial alternatives, a gain that supports dense integration of thousands of optical channels on a single chip.
Such efficiency is seen as essential for scaling quantum computers beyond laboratory demonstrations. Current systems rely on bulky components that limit expansion and increase energy demands.
The researchers are now working to integrate additional optical functions, including frequency filtering and pulse shaping, onto the same chip.
Future testing is planned with quantum computing companies using advanced atomic systems.
The development marks a step toward compact, manufacturable photonic platforms capable of managing the complex laser operations required for next-generation quantum machines.
