Power and Precision in a Miniaturised Package
The engine driving the HILIGHT project is a revolutionary, solid-state versatile light source. It is engineered from the ground up to overcome the performance, cost, and size limitations of current laser technologies, providing the power and flexibility needed to unlock new capabilities in medical diagnostics and research.
Overcoming the Limitations of Today’s Lasers
Conventional lasers used for advanced microscopy, such as Ti:Sapphire systems, are powerful but come with significant drawbacks. They are typically bulky, expensive, inefficient in their power consumption, and complex to operate and align. While more compact laser diodes exist, they have lacked the specific pulse characteristics required for high-speed, time-resolved fluorescence measurements. This has created a barrier, preventing the widespread adoption of powerful techniques like two-photon FLIM in time-critical settings like operating theatres.
The HILIGHT Solution: A New Laser for a New Era
Our solution is an innovative, multi-section tapered laser diode that monolithically integrates multiple electro-optical functions onto a single chip. This pioneering design provides the high peak power and timing versatility of complex systems but in a miniaturised, cost-effective, and robust package.
Key Features of the HILIGHT Light Source:
- Unprecedented Versatility: The laser is designed for ultimate flexibility. It features an integrated electronic pulse picker that allows it to generate bursts of pulses on demand. The duration of these bursts can be electronically tuned to perfectly match the properties of specific fluorescent dyes, maximising the signal quality for every measurement.
- Compact Powerhouse: By integrating functionality onto a single photonic chip, our source is exceptionally compact and power-efficient. The final laser will be delivered in an industry-standard hermetic butterfly package, emitting a collimated beam ready for easy integration into microscope systems. The complete unit, including electronics and the pulse compressor, will have a small footprint.
- High-Performance Pulses: The source generates a high-repetition-frequency train of pulses (GHz range) with high peak power. The laser is designed to deliver high energy picoseconds wide pulses, resulting in a two-photon excitation figure of merit that is comparable to the current gold standard.
- Engineered for Speed: The source is designed to be triggered on-demand to synchronise with the fastest scanning microscopes. The integrated pulse picker can switch the laser train on and off with incredibly rapid transitions, a critical feature for enabling single-shot fluorescence lifetime imaging at unprecedented rates of up to 8 Megapixels per second.
Our Development Pathway
To bring this technology to life, the consortium partners are executing a detailed development plan. Led by III-V LAB and CSEM, the process involves a careful cycle of design, modelling, fabrication, and characterisation. To mitigate technical risks and ensure the final device meets its ambitious targets, we are undertaking two full fabrication runs—the first to validate our designs and a second to deliver an optimised and reliable source ready for system integration.
This versatile light source is a core enabling technology for the entire HILIGHT project, paving the way for breakthroughs in our application use cases.
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