New device can control light at unprecedented speeds

An international group of researchers, led by a team at MIT, spent more than four years tackling the problem of high-speed optical beam forming. 

They have now demonstrated a programmable, wireless device that can control light, such as by focusing a beam in a specific direction or manipulating the light’s intensity, and do it orders of magnitude more quickly than commercial devices.

Known as a spatial light modulator, the device could be used to create super-fast lidar (light detection and ranging) sensors for self-driving cars, which could image a scene about a million times faster than existing mechanical systems.

The research was funded, in part, by the Hertz Foundation, the NDSEG Fellowship Program, the Schmidt Postdoctoral Award, the Israeli Vatat Scholarship, the U.S. Army Research Office, the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, the UK’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, and the Royal Academy of Engineering.