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Information and Communication Photonics Lab
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A lab that supports greater communication capacity using optical fibers and optical circuits.
AboutAbout the lab
Carrying more, faster, with light
The Information and Communication Photonics Lab studies technologies that expand the amount of data communication can carry, using optical fibers and optical circuits.
As the spread of the internet and AI keeps increasing data traffic, mechanisms that carry more signals through a single optical fiber are needed.
The lab works on mode-division multiplexing, which superimposes signals by using differences in how light propagates, and on the design of optical fibers with multiple cores.
For on-chip optical circuits used in coherent optical communication, the lab conducts prototyping and experimental evaluation in addition to theoretical design.
Key terms
- Mode-division multiplexing
- A method of sending multiple signals superimposed in a single optical fiber by using differences in how light propagates (modes)
- Waveguide
- A thin pathway that confines light and guides it along a defined route
- Coherent optical communication
- A communication method that also encodes information in the phase and polarization of light, increasing the amount carried at one time
NewsLab news
A doctoral student received a Best Paper Award
A doctoral student received a Best Student Paper Award
A master's student received the Student Excellent Poster Presentation Award from the Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers (IEICE)
In joint research with NTT, the lab devised and demonstrated a new structural design for multi-core, multi-mode optical fibers
An undergraduate student received the Young Researcher Excellent Paper Presentation Award at the Hokkaido Chapter Joint Convention
ResearchResearch themes
As the spread of the internet and AI keeps increasing data traffic, the lab studies technologies that expand transmission capacity with optical fibers and optical devices. It works on mode-division multiplexing, which uses differences in how light propagates, and on the design of optical circuits built on chips.
*Illustrative imageOptical Networks on a Chip
Inside data centers, there is a need to expand optical communication capacity within large-scale integrated circuit chips. The lab studies how to build compact multiplexers and demultiplexers, which combine and separate light of different modes, by optimizing the shape of the waveguide.
*Illustrative imageEqualizing Loss Across Modes
In mode-division multiplexing, higher-order modes attenuate more easily, and variation in signal strength between modes limits communication performance. The lab develops devices that even out this difference using long-period fiber gratings, which introduce periodic changes in refractive index into an optical fiber.
*Illustrative imageCompact, High-Performance MMI Couplers
Receivers for coherent optical communication require an optical 90° hybrid to demodulate multilevel-modulated optical signals. Its component, the multimode interference (MMI) coupler, loses performance as it gets smaller, so the lab optimizes it using the wavefront matching method, which adjusts the outline of the waveguide little by little.
*Illustrative imageConnection Devices for Multimode Light
When light with combined modes is coupled into an optical fiber, the position of the intense part of a higher-order mode does not match that of the fiber, so it cannot be connected efficiently. The lab studies devices that connect higher-order modes well, in addition to the fundamental mode.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Information and Communication Photonics Lab consist of faculty and students in the doctoral, master's, and undergraduate programs.As of 2026
- ProfessorKunimasa Saitoh
- Associate ProfessorTakanori Sato
VoicesStudent voices
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Red optical fibers” Tyler Nienhouse / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Optical Networks on a Chip: “Cabinet Asile” Robert.Harker / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Equalizing Loss Across Modes: “Fiber optic illuminated” Hustvedt / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Compact, High-Performance MMI Couplers: “IMaGe 31072R – Silicon Wafer 20120926” Rob Bulmahn / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Connection Devices for Multimode Light: “F-SMA-Stecker (SMA 905)” Kirnehkrib / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Optoelectronics Lab): “Closing in” Simon Whitehead from Australia / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Intelligent Informatics Lab): “Quiet Electric Engine V1 (QUEEN V1) Experiment (GRC-2024-C-06530)” NASA Glenn Research Center / NASA/GRC/Sara Lowthian-Hanna / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Information Media Environment Lab): “Global illumination” user:Gtanski / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Media Creation Lab): “Photomosaic WLM2014 Winner” user:Fuzzypiggy / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
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