Inside NTT’s Photonics Breakthroughs: A Roadmap to Light-Based Computing

Inside NTT’s Photonics Breakthroughs: A Roadmap to Light-Based Computing

July 10, 2026 · 19 min · Episode 510

About this episode

The episode discusses advancements in photonics and their implications for computing with experts from NTT.

Let’s talk about Photonics! My guests are esteemed scientists Tim McKenna and Ryo Yanagimoto, from the Physics & Informatics Laboratories at NTT. Tim and I chat about balancing theoretical physics with real-world applications at NTT, his most exciting photonics projects, and the primary obstacles to replacing traditional electronics with photonic technologies. Ryo and I dig into the game-changing potential of NTT’s programmable photonic chips. We discuss how their unique reconfigurability is shaking up traditional hardware manufacturing, facilitating a move from power-hungry electrical processing toward light-driven computation, and even allowing chips to self-correct for environmental shifts.

People in this episode

Guests: Tim McKenna, Ryo Yanagimoto

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: NTT, Physics & Informatics Laboratories

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