Magnet-free linear electro-optic isolator on a lithium niobate photonic chip directs unidirectional light flow and protects laser sources

https://phys.org/news/2026-07-highly-tunable-electro-optic-isolator.html

"scaling co-packaged optics, silicon photonics foundries, high-density laser integration requires: bulky magnets non-integrable with CMOS fabrication, introducing significant optical loss... overcome emulating atomic Autler–Townes splitting, establishing controlled non-reciprocal coupling between optical modes without moving parts/ acoustic waves... approximately 33 dB isolation contrast alongside multi-THz operating wavelength tunability in telecom band... compact, low-power optical signal routing"