Slow Light Chip
Researchers built a programmable silicon nitride photonic chip that slows light on demand — tunable microring resonators evanescently couple a pulse out of the waveguide and store it briefly in each ring, adding a configurable group delay with no moving parts and no electrical power needed after programming. August 2026.
3 rings · Δt = 3.6 ns
1 ring · 1.2 ns4 rings · 4.8 ns7 rings · 8.4 ns
Platform
Si₃N₄ photonics
Group velocity
34% of c/n
Total delay
3.6 ns
Ring stages
3
Coupling
evanescent
Tuning
thermo-optic
Moving parts
zero
Application
optical buffering
Programmable delay line · signal flow