Titanium: Sapphire Integration for On-Chip Solid-State Laser Technology

This webinar will provide researchers, students, and enthusiasts from the optical materials community with insights into how advanced material platforms are pushing the boundaries of integrated photonics.

Titanium: sapphire has long been a powerful component in tabletop laser systems. But what happens when we bring this high-performance gain medium onto a microchip? Prof. Kasper Van Gasse will introduce titanium:sapphire-on-insulator (Ti:SaOI), a novel integration approach that combines the exceptional optical properties of Ti:sapphire with the scalability and precision of photonic integration, enabling devices smaller than 0.15 square millimeters that consume minimal power while still generating high-performance laser light.

Through this webinar, you'll hear about current research, fabrication challenges, material integration strategies and the design principles that guide this innovative technology. You’ll gain insights into how Ti:SaOI can impact quantum technology and other applications. This is a valuable opportunity to connect your background in optical materials with emerging trends in integrated photonics.

Subject Matter Level: Introductory - Assumes little previous knowledge of the topic

What You Will Learn:
• Demonstration of a powerful laser miniaturized from tabletop to microchip, with performance comparable to commercial tabletop titanium:sapphire laser systems
• Insights into the integration techniques that bring bulk laser materials into scalable, CMOS-compatible photonic platforms

Who Should Attend:
• Researchers and students in optical materials, photonics, or laser physics interested in cutting-edge material integration for on-chip light sources
• Engineers and scientists working in ultrafast optics, spectroscopy, or quantum technologies who want to learn about the potential of titanium:sapphire integration
• Members of the optical materials and integrated photonics communities looking to explore new frontiers in on-chip laser technology

About the Presenter: Kasper Van Gasse from Ghent University 

Kasper Van Gasse earned a PhD in 2019 from the Photonics Research Group at Ghent University and imec, and an MSc in Engineering Physics in 2014. His PhD work on photonic integrated circuits for 5G networks earned him the 2020 Nokia Bell Scientific Award. He received a postdoctoral fellowship from the FWO in 2019, focusing on integrated mode-locked lasers at Ghent University and imec. He also joined the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, collaborating with Theodore Haensch and Nathalie Picque on dual-comb systems. Later, with a Belgian American Educational Foundation fellowship, he worked at Stanford University in Jelena Vučković’s lab, developing the first thin-film monocrystalline Ti:sapphire nanophotonic laser. He is now an Associate Professor at Ghent University and imec, leading research on chip-scale solid-state lasers for metrology and quantum systems under the ERC StG LASIQ project.