Our group is part of the new European project, ULTRAPURE, funded by the EIC Pathfinder programme.
In this project, we will focus on developing ultra-low noise laser sources, which are critical for precise atomic clocks, next-generation communication networks, and quantum technologies.
Over the next three years, we will work with our partners: TU Braunschweig, Thales Research & Technology, University of Rennes, CSEM, and Modus Research.
Congratulations, David and the entire team!
We are excited to announce that our group’s spin-off company, Sabratha, officially launched last week!
The company will focus on developing high-speed modulators and unique optical and RF filters on thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) photonic integrated circuits. This venture marks an exciting step in translating our cutting-edge academic research into commercial products that address the growing demand for high-performance photonics.
We wish the team a successful path ahead!
On November 11th, Steven successfully defended his PhD thesis: ‘Stimulated Brillouin Scattering in Scalable Integrated Photonic Platforms’.
Steven’s contributions to our research have been instrumental. He successfully characterized the SBS response on thin-film lithium niobate and went on to demonstrate the first Brillouin laser on this platform. Furthermore, he expanded the field’s knowledge by providing the world’s first SBS measurements for both silicon oxynitride and thick silicon-on-insulator circuits.
Steven will continue his journey as the CTO of our new spin-off company, Sabratha. Thank you for your incredible work, Steven, and best of luck in this exciting new role!
Gustavo Wiederhecker from the University of Campinas and Maurizio Burla from TU Berlin visited our lab and cleanroom. We had the chance to demonstrate our work on Brillouin scattering and microwave photonics, and enjoyed fruitful discussions.
We were very happy to hear their valuable insights!
On October 21st, Yvan successfully defended his PhD thesis: ‘Brillouin- and Kerr-mediated parametric light sources in scalable photonic platforms’.
During his PhD in the NLNP, Yvan made an extraordinary impact on the group. He demonstrated the first Brillouin laser on the hybrid tellurite/silicon nitride platform. Additionally, he realized both Brillouin lasers and frequency combs on a scalable silicon nitride platform, marking a significant advancement in the field.
Yvan will continue his scientific career at Chalmers University of Technology as a postdoctoral researcher. Thank you for everything, and best of luck there, Yvan!
Birgit Stiller from Leibniz University Hannover and Thomas Schneider from TU Braunschweig visited our lab. During their visit, we gave them a tour of the MESA+ cleanroom, where we are developing our fabrication processes.
It was great to have very interesting discussions on Brillouin photonics!
We are glad to share that our recent work, ‘Gigahertz thermoelastic acousto-optic modulation in lithium niobate integrated photonic devices’, was published in Nanophotonics.
In this work, we demonstrate thermoelastically driven surface acoustic waves for acousto-optic modulation. Our approach eliminates the need for piezoelectric materials for integrated acousto-optic modulators.
Congrats, Zheng!
On October 3rd, Abel van der Vies successfully defended his thesis: “Scalable Brillouin spectrum engineering in Thin-Film Lithium Niobate”.
Abel addressed a significant challenge in microwave photonics by leveraging the crystalline structure of TFLN waveguides to develop customizable Brillouin filters.
Congratulations and good luck in your future career, Abel!
On October 2nd, Job Noordkamp successfully defended his Master’s thesis: “Integrated Stimulated Brillouin Laser in Foundry Silicon Nitride”.
During his time with the group, Job achieved a major breakthrough by realizing the Brillouin laser and comb on silicon nitride photonic circuits—a long-standing goal of our research. His contributions to the group were remarkable!
We wish you the best of luck with your next steps, Job!
We were delighted to participate in the 2025 MESA+ Meeting, which celebrated the institution’s 25th anniversary. As in previous years, we actively contributed by sharing our most recent scientific results.
The meeting featured several key contributions from our group: Yvan delivered a compelling talk focusing on Brillouin microwave photonic filters for security applications. Furthermore, during the poster session, Steven and Kees presented our recent work and roadmap on scalable TFLN photonics technologies, and Randy demonstrated Brillouin amplifiers and lasers in silicon nitride photonics.
We are extremely proud that, in the poster competition, Randy won the ‘Best Poster’ prize among nearly 70 attendees. Congratulations, Randy, on this outstanding achievement!
Nonlinear Nanophotonics (NLNP) 