SuperLight Photonics - Elly Schietse
Jun 5, 2026
The future of photonics is not just brighter. It requires more performance in less space. The challenge is clear: how to reduce SWaP without compromising image quality?
Performance matters. But size, weight and power matter just as much. In photonics, performance is only part of the equation. A laser source can have an impressive specification sheet, but if it is large, power-hungry, or difficult to integrate, it creates challenges for system designers and its users.
As photonic systems move from universities and research labs into real-world deployment, OEMs are increasingly challenged to integrate advanced optical performance into platforms that are smaller, lighter, and more energy efficient. Whether it is industrial inspection equipment, portable medical devices, agricultural crop inspection systems, or battery-powered field instruments, reducing SWaP is often the key to successful adoption.
The challenge is clear: how do you reduce SWaP without compromising image quality?
At SuperLight Photonics, we are happy to shine our light on one of the more relevant industry acronyms: SWaP, which reflects how compact, lightweight, and energy-efficient a system is. As part of the unique differentiators for our technology and for future OCT applications, lets analyze the SWaP level of our technology.
High brightness and bandwidth with spectrally stable output in a low-SWaP platform
S ➡️ Size
Traditional OCT systems often rely on bulky optical subsystems and light sources that occupy valuable space. This may not be a problem in a stationary laboratory setup, but is limiting the potential of new applications when OCT needs to be integrated into industrial production equipment, semiconductor inspection tools or mobile medical devices, often using robot-arms and several moving parts to bring devices close to objects to be inspected.
For example, the large equipment in the ophthalmology clinic can only be used in the eye examination room. And industrial OCT quality inspection would need a disrupting additional process step for off-line laboratory sample inspection.
In an ideal world, in ophthalmology, a smaller OCT system creates new possibilities both inside and outside the clinic. A compact footprint allows seamless integration into crowded examination rooms and mobile equipment supports more flexible clinical workflows, while also paving the way for portable and even home-based monitoring solutions. By bringing high-quality imaging closer to the patient, compact and handheld OCT diagnostic devices can enable more frequent monitoring, earlier detection of disease progression, and improved access to eye care.
For industrial quality inspection, a compact and real-time monitoring OCT system enables inspection of every product during manufacturing, allowing defects to be detected immediately and corrective actions to be taken before yield is affected.
Consider a crop inspection system operating in the field. Today, modern crop monitoring increasingly relies on autonomous platforms such as mobile carts moving through greenhouses or drones surveying large fields from above. In both cases, available space, payload capacity, and battery life are limited. A compact, lightweight, and energy-efficient photonic system allows these platforms to operate longer, cover larger areas, and carry additional sensors, making advanced optical inspection practical outside the laboratory.
Our photonic integrated circuit (PIC) technology enables exceptionally compact light sources, helping OEMs and system integrators to reduce system size and unlock new portable and handheld and even battery powered applications where performance must be delivered without sacrificing mobility.
W ➡️ Weight
Reducing weight is about more than convenience. A lighter photonic subsystem simplifies integration into portable, handheld, and mobile devices, while reducing mechanical constraints on the overall system design. In medical, agricultural and industrial applications, lower weight improves ergonomics, enhances mobility, and enables new use cases where traditional light sources would be too bulky or cumbersome.
The result is greater design freedom, easier deployment, and systems that can go where larger solutions simply cannot. And reduced weight becomes important for embedded photonics systems like field-deployable measurement equipment, portable instruments and drones and satellites.
In our case, less weight does not result in a less robust solution. Designed for long-term operation, our laser sources require no calibration and no routine maintenance, reducing downtime and lowering total cost of ownership. Unlike many conventional broadband light sources, they are built to deliver consistent performance throughout their lifetime without user intervention. For OEMs and users alike, maintenance-free operation means greater reliability, lower operating costs, and one less thing to worry about.
In short, we reduce size and weight without sacrificing the robustness required for demanding industrial and medical environments.
P ➡️ Power
Historically, reducing size often meant sacrificing performance. Smaller systems typically delivered less optical power, narrower bandwidth, or lower stability.
At SuperLight Photonics, we believe this trade-off is no longer necessary because our PIC-based laser platform is designed to combine high brightness with wide optical bandwidth, exceptional spectral stability and extreme low power consumption.
Specifically in OCT, low SWaP and high performance are often seen as opposing requirements. Traditional SLED sources offer excellent compactness and low power consumption, but their narrower bandwidth can limit achievable imaging performance. Conventional supercontinuum lasers provide broader spectra and higher resolution, but often come with significant size, power, and cooling requirements.
SuperLight Photonics takes a different approach. Our highly efficient broadband generation technology delivers the bandwidth and brightness associated with supercontinuum sources while significantly reducing the SWaP penalty traditionally associated with these systems. The result is an energy efficient light source that enables next-generation OCT performance in a practical, integrator-friendly form factor.
Unlike traditional OCT light sources, SuperLight Photonics solutions are engineered for real-world deployment. Compact, robust, and energy-efficient, they are built to perform wherever light is needed.
Enabling next-gen OCT systems
As photonics becomes increasingly embedded into industrial and medical equipment, SWaP will continue to grow in importance.
The next breakthrough will not come from bigger optical systems. It will come from delivering superior performance in solutions where every cubic centimeter, every gram, and every watt matters. That is why low SWaP is more than a specification, it is a key enabler for the future of photonics.
The future of photonics is not just brighter. It is powerful without the footprint.
Conclusion: deliver more with less
At SuperLight Photonics, SWaP is more than an acronym. Our drive to deliver low SWaP reflects our philosophy of making advanced photonics practical, scalable, and ready for the next generation of OCT applications. For system designers, lower SWaP often translates directly into lower total system cost and a therefore a broader range of possible applications.
Unique combination of brightness, spectral range, stability, form factor and scalability.
The SuperLight Photonics light source delivers high optical performance while remaining compact, lightweight, and power-efficient, a strong value proposition for integrators and OEM platforms.