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At 4 degrees Kelvin, most electro-optic materials falter. Nanoelectronics R&D center imec has now successfully engineered thin-film strontium titanate (SrTiO₃) that delivers record electro-optic performance with low optical loss, pointing to shorter, faster building blocks for quantum devices.
Quantum computers and detectors run at temperatures close to absolute zero. In these extreme conditions, even the best room‑temperature materials struggle to control light efficiently. This feature is essential to encode, route, and convert information in electro-optic networks, which at room temperature are used in data and telecom applications, but also increasingly for ultra-low temperature quantum links.
In a new paper published today in Science, imec researchers, in collaboration with KU Leuven and Ghent University, report how they re‑engineered a common crystal, strontium titanate (SrTiO₃), so it behaves with record performance at cryogenic temperatures.
The research team, led by Christian Haffner and spearheaded by PhD students Anja Ulrich, Kamal Brahim, and Andries Boelen, demonstrates an effective Pockels coefficient of close to 350 pm/V at 4 K, the highest reported for any thin‑film electro‑optic material at this temperature. The Pockels coefficient measures how strongly a material’s refractive index (how much a light ray bends when passing from one medium to another) changes when you apply an electric field. The larger the Pockels coefficient, the more efficiently you can modulate light per volt. At ultra-low temperatures, most materials get weaker, but the engineered SrTiO₃ thin film does the opposite, enabling shorter, faster electro-optic components.
Crucially, the team achieves this performance with limited optical losses. In practical terms, that combination of high electro-optic strength with low loss, means scientists can build smaller devices that waste fewer photons, which is essential for quantum systems.
“By converting a quantum‑paraelectric into a cryo‑ferroelectric thin film, we reveal a powerful Pockels effect where none was expected. This opens a new materials lane for compact, low‑loss electro‑optic components at 4 degrees Kelvin,” said Haffner, corresponding author at imec. “It’s a great example of how materials engineering at the atomic scale can unlock device‑level breakthroughs.”
The long-term value of this fundamental research is clear: by providing a cryogenic‑ready electro‑optic material with record performance in thin‑film form, the work accelerates the development of next‑generation quantum interconnects, modulators, and transducers that could eventually bridge superconducting processors and optical networks.
The results are published back-to-back with another study showing that, by carefully tuning strontium titanate, its response to electric fields at 4 to 5 K can be made extremely strong and adjustable. While the second study was led by a Stanford research team, imec researchers contributed to both advances. Combined, both papers show how far strontium titanate’s performance can be pushed and controlled, and how to build it into low-loss, wafer-scale thin films suitable for the production of photonic chips.
This achievement reflects imec’s tenure track model of backing bold, long-horizon research: protected time, access to advanced fabrication, and cross-disciplinary support that turn early scientific insights into future technology platforms.
“This project demanded tight control over how the film was grown, expert wafer bonding, and high-precision testing at cryogenic temperatures… A true cross‑disciplinary effort,” said first authors Anja Ulrich, Kamal Brahim and Andries Boelen. “We’re excited that our fundamental discovery can now seed new device concepts for quantum photonics.”
About imec
Imec (imec-int.com) is a world-leading research and innovation hub in advanced semiconductor technologies. Leveraging its state-of-the-art R&D infrastructure and the expertise of over 6,000 employees, imec drives innovation in semiconductor and system scaling, artificial intelligence, silicon photonics, connectivity, and sensing.
Imec’s advanced research powers breakthroughs across a wide range of industries, including computing, health, automotive, energy, infotainment, industry, agrifood, and security. Through IC-Link, imec guides companies through every step of the chip journey - from initial concept to full-scale manufacturing - delivering customized solutions tailored to meet the most advanced design and production needs.
Imec collaborates with global leaders across the semiconductor value chain, as well as with technology companies, start-ups, academia, and research institutions in Flanders and worldwide. Headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, imec has research facilities across Belgium and in Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, the UK, Spain, and the USA, with representation on three continents. In 2024, imec reported revenues of €1.034 billion.
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