Fireworks lit up San Francisco this week for the Chinese New Year, but inside the conference halls of Photonics West, another kind of energy was crackling—one of real technological progress.
A few years ago, mentioning fusion, quantum, or AI in serious engineering discussions often led to skepticism. Buzzwords, some would say. But after a week in San Francisco, it’s clear: real advances are happening.
The plenary sessions set the tone. Pr. Constantin Häffner from Fraunhofer ILT laid out a blueprint for a future fusion plant, though he left out the recipe for the necessary lasers—those were debated intensively in the conference rooms. Progress on high power lasers and components was evident across the board, and the industry seems fully committed to pushing the field forward. Pr. Aiko Narazaki demonstrated practical, data-driven laser processing, while Pr. Christine Silberhorn showcased how one of my favorite quantum effects—the Hong-Ou-Mandel effect—can be integrated into a photonic chip, opening new possibilities for quantum computing and advanced spectroscopy. Meanwhile, Pr. Paul Corkum, a father of attoscience, and Pr. Nathalie Picqué, with her brilliant work on dual-comb spectroscopy, delivered outstanding presentations.
In an interesting twist, Prof. Volker Sorger from the University of Florida introduced a new photonic integrated circuit designed for convolution operations—a key function in neural networks—running entirely on light. Given AI’s insatiable demand for power, this kind of efficiency could be a game-changer.
Beyond the keynotes, sessions covered everything from laser bio-printing to new electrode processing techniques for e-mobility, reinforcing the role of photonics as a foundational, if often invisible, technology shaping our future.
The show floor was packed—at times, just walking the aisles was a challenge. If I had one piece of advice for a first-time attendee, it would be this: don’t overlook the small tabletop booths. These early-stage startups often house some of the most intriguing innovations. Take for instance Cassio-P’s all-glass compact laser, stripped to its essentials without a single mechanical component, or SPhotonix’s eternal data storage technology.
Of course, this is just a small slice of what was happening this year at Photonics West. The prediction that the 21st century will belong to the photon, much as the 20th did to the electron, has never felt more accurate.
Eric Mottay, h-nu & Founder of Amplitude.