MIT’s Robotic Optics Lab Could Speed Testing for Quantum Technology

Insider Brief

• MIT researchers developed a robotic optics laboratory that can autonomously assemble, align, tune and reconfigure precision optical experiments.
• In a demonstration, the system built and stabilized a tabletop laser cavity through 50 autonomous maneuvers in about 30 minutes.
• The researchers are developing remote-access capabilities and plan to use the system to test materials, including candidates for carbon capture, while exploring applications in displays, solar cells and optical devices.
• Image: Taking a step toward a future, fully-automated lab, MIT scientists have developed a robotic, reconfigurable laser laboratory. (Courtesy of Sachin Vaidya, Marin Soljacic)

PRESS RELEASE — Every new generation of phone display, television screen, and solar panel is a result of precision optics experiments, which use lasers and other light sources to measure the optical properties of candidate materials. These experiments can take months to run, requiring scientists to meticulously angle and adjust delicate light sources, mirrors, cameras, and other components, in a careful and constant tuning that can be physically tedious and time-consuming. 

But MIT scientists say the whole process of building and running an optics experiment could one day be fully automated. Taking a step toward such a future, they have developed a reconfigurable, robotic optics laboratory.