Researchers at Trinity have developed a new light-based technology on a tiny chip that could help make the data centers behind cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and global internet services faster and more efficient. In the new research, recently published in Nature Communications, the Trinity team reported one such promising advance with collaborators at the University of Bath and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL).

The team developed a new way to generate extremely stable signals of light using microscopic ring-shaped devices called “microresonators.” These signals form what scientists call optical frequency combs, sometimes described as “optical rulers” because they produce a series of evenly spaced colors of light that can be used to measure light with remarkable precision.

The researchers also demonstrated a new type of light pulse called a “hyperparametric soliton.” This stable pulse is the key behind the major advancement in this work, as it allows the comb signals to be produced at different colors of light from the laser that powers the device.