The approach produced a laser with low frequency noise and simultaneously with fast wavelength tuning—both great qualities for a laser used in light detection and ranging applications. Then they performed an optical ranging experiment where they used the laser to measure distances with high precision.
Beyond integrated lasers, the hybrid platform has the potential to realize integrated transceivers for telecommunications as well as microwave-optical transducers for use in quantum computing. "What is remarkable about the result is that the laser simultaneously provides low phase noise and fast petahertz-per-second tuning, something that has never before been achieved with such a chip-scale integrated laser," says Professor Tobias J. Kippenberg, who led the EPFL side of the project.