Extreme precision is essential in photonics. Thienpont: “We work on a nanometer scale. If you make a lens and it gets even the tiniest dent of, say, 25 nanometers, that lens become worthless.” These high stakes explain why VUB moved its Photonics Innovation Center to Gooik, a quiet village in Flanders’ countryside. 

“In the city,” Thienpont explains, “we would have to deal with all sorts of vibrations. At Leuven-based imec, Flanders’ strategic research center for nanotech and digital innovation, they’ve solved this problem by conceiving a sort of floating building that absorbs all the vibrations. Since we don’t have the budget to do something similar, we decided to set up a facility in the countryside.”

Photonics may not be the best-known branch of engineering science, but it has many intersections with other research areas that have a wide range of applications. Photonics can be found, for example, in smartphone cameras, car sensors, solar panels, food sorting machines, medical devices or fiber optics for data communication. It’s this variety of applications that mainly drives photonics forward.

A well-known example is fiber optic cables in which data is transmitted via light signals, with a speed and capacity that are many times greater than classic data transport via copper. The Photonics Innovation Center conducts research into changing the structure of those fiber optic cables to further increase their speed. Thienpont: “Optical components will also play an increasing role in bringing about data communication on a smaller scale, i.e., on and between micro- and nanochips. This development can lead to immense savings in data centers, for instance, allowing for a reduction of around 500 million tons of CO₂ annually worldwide."

Another example are the long optical fibers that can be used in catheters. The end of such a wire will light up when it detects ionizing radiation. This allows doctors to irradiate cancerous tumors in the body with great precision. But it doesn’t end there. Yet another promising application is lab-on-chip technology, where cells, blood or saliva can be analyzed quickly and cheaply on a chip-based reader.

Just a few years before his retirement, Thienpont hopes to complete another important project: the expansion of the photonics lab with an additional facility. In this regard, Flanders is earmarking EUR 5 million for the expansion through the funds of the government’s ‘Flemish Resilience’ investment plan. In addition to EUR 3.5 million for new devices, EUR 1 million will go towards equipping a photonics training center. Thienpont: “The aim is to reach people from all walks of life, from technical schools and colleges to universities and companies. The center will be the first of its kind and will organize very targeted training courses and internships.”

Learn more about cutting-edge photonics in Flanders.
Zoom in on Flanders’ nanotech innovation track record.