# Caltech Chips Match Fiber-Optic Light Loss, Unlocking a New Class of Photonic Circuits

*2026-08-18 06:01 UTC · Science · 2 min read*

> Caltech built silicon chips with fiber-optic-level light loss, beating prior on-chip records 20x at visible wavelengths and enabling more efficient photonic circuits.

Caltech researchers have built silicon chips that guide light with almost no loss, matching the efficiency of optical fiber and beating existing on-chip technology by a wide margin at visible wavelengths. The team, led by professor Kerry Vahala with postdoctoral scholar Hao-Jing Chen and graduate student Kellan Colburn, coated standard silicon wafers with germano-silicate glass — the same material used in optical fiber — then shaped it into spiral waveguides polished to atomic-level smoothness to minimize scattering.

The results, published in Nature, are striking: at visible wavelengths the new platform outperforms the previous silicon nitride record by a factor of 20, while laser devices built on the chips hold their light coherent 100 times longer than earlier designs. The 2-centimeter chips are made using standard 8- and 12-inch wafers, meaning the process could scale using existing chip-fabrication infrastructure rather than requiring exotic new manufacturing lines.

The breakthrough opens the door to more precise optical clocks, gyroscopes and atomic sensors, and could make data-center links and quantum-computing hardware significantly more energy efficient. The work was funded by DARPA, the Air Force Research Laboratory, and the UK's Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, with collaborators from UC Santa Barbara, Leiden University and the University of Southampton.

## Sources

- [caltech.edu](https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/extending-optical-fibers-ultralow-loss-performance-to-photonic-chips)
- [sciencedaily.com](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260814235905.htm)

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TechTools News · https://techtools.cz/tools/news/article/2209-caltech-chips-match-fiber-optic-light-loss-unlocking-a-new-class-of-photonic
Česká verze: https://techtools.cz/tools/news/clanek/2282-cipy-z-caltechu-dosahly-ztratovosti-svetla-srovnatelne-s-optickym-vlaknem