Harris and Patil receive Roberts Innovation Funding
Jack Harris, professor of physics and of applied physics and Yogesh Patil, research scientist in physics
Jack Harris, professor of physics and applied physics, and Yogesh Patil, research scientist in physics, have received one of 10 Roberts Innovation Fund awards for the 2025-2026 cycle for their project “Geometric Amplification of Laser Light”. Geometric Amplification will dramatically improve amplifiers intended to avoid the loss or corruption of data over long distances to support Internet infrastructure. With their invention of a new type of amplifier, the Harris Lab’s Geometric Amplification will advance telecommunication hardware with improved power efficiency and greater tunability, as well as other advantages such as phase insensitive amplification and reduced reliance upon rare-earth materials.”
The Roberts Innovation Fund , open to Yale faculty with a primary or secondary appointment in a Yale engineering department who have developed a novel innovation that addresses a significant problem with potential for scaling. It is one of five accelerator funds managed by Yale Ventures to support faculty technology commercialization with significant promise. In addition to funding, awardees receive world-class support and mentorship with access to industry experts and more than $1.8M in cloud computing credits and other resources from Amazon, Google, and Microsoft as well as an opportunity to present at the annual Yale Innovation Summit.
About their project, Harris explained, “Information is sent through the internet using pulses of laser light to represent each 0 and 1 of the digital file. These pulses are sent along optical fibers, but these are not perfectly transparent so after every 100 km the pulses need to be amplified. Present-day amplifiers involve many compromises between speed, size, cost, and efficiency. With support from the Roberts Innovation Fund we are developing a completely new approach to amplifying laser light that will open important new possibilities within the telecom industry.”
Regarding the funding, Patil commented, “Yale has curated an exceptional ecosystem of resources, expertise, and experience dedicated to the commercialization of academic research. As a Roberts Innovation Fellow, I am excited to learn how to adapt the fundamental principles we discover in our labs into innovative technologies that address critical industry needs and enable new frontiers in the commercial sector.”