Integrated lithium niobate microwave photonic processing engine. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38418888/)

These scientists wanted to create a special technology that could help make microwave signals faster and more efficient. They used a material called lithium niobate to build a tiny chip that could process signals very quickly. This chip could convert microwave signals into light signals and perform tasks like solving math problems, creating wideband signals, and detecting edges in pictures. They even used this technology to help doctors find the edges of skin lesions in medical images. This new technology could be used in the future for things like faster wireless communication, better radar systems, and artificial intelligence.

Feng H., Ge T., Guo X., Wang B., Zhang Y., Chen Z., Zhu S., Zhang K., Sun W., Huang C., Yuan Y., Wang C. Integrated lithium niobate microwave photonic processing engine. Nature. 2024 Feb 28. doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-07078-9.