IFISC places its Non-linear Photonics Laboratory at the forefront of ultra-fast information processing research worldwide

In order to upgrade and extend its experimental capabilities in the field of complex photonics research, IFISC (UIB-CSIC) has acquired new equipment for its Nonlinear Photonics Laboratory consisting of an ultra-fast system for the generation and detection of photonic signals.

This new experimental equipment, delivered by the company Keysight Technologies, has the one of the most advanced technologies in its field and will put the IFISC facilities on the map as one of the world's leading non-linear photonics laboratories. All this experimental potential will allow IFISC members to open a wide range of novel research opportunities, pioneering the field of complex photonic systems and their applications. The equipment will be mainly devoted to the IFISC research lines related to (brain-inspired) ultra-fast photonic information  processing, and the implementation of artificial intelligence concepts in photonic hardware. Other research lines that will be strengthened will be the study of complex phenomena in modern photonic sources and systems and their applications, complex optical networks of semiconductor lasers, the characterization of optical turbulence in two or more spatial dimensions, the observation and utilization of solitary structures in optical systems, the generation and characterization of optical frequency combs, and ultra-fast generation of random numbers within physical systems. Ultra-fast speeds of hundreds of GigaSamples per second will now become within reach, placing IFISC at the forefront of photonics research for the next few years.

The acquisition of the equipment is framed in the infrastructure project EQC2019-005691-P AEI/FEDER UE of the Spanish Plan for Scientific and Technical Research and Innovation 2017-2020 and is funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation, the Spanish Research Agency (AEI), the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the University of the Balearic Islands