2026-01-20 サンディア国立研究所（SNL）
＜関連情報＞
- https://newsreleases.sandia.gov/physicists-employ-ai-labmates-to-supercharge-led-light-control/
- https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-66916-0
- https://tiisys.com/blog/2023/03/21/post-118796/
自動運転研究室が従来のフーリエ光学を超えた自然放出光を制御する原理を発見 Self-driving lab discovers principles for steering spontaneous emission beyond conventional Fourier optics
Saaketh Desai,Sadhvikas Addamane,Jeffrey Y. Tsao,Igal Brener,Remi Dingreville & Prasad P. Iyer
Nature Communications Published:09 December 2025
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-66916-0
Abstract
We develop an autonomous experimentation platform to accelerate interpretable scientific discovery in ultrafast nanophotonics, targeting a novel method to steer spontaneous emission from reconfigurable semiconductor metasurfaces. Despite the potential of reconfigurable semiconductor metasurfaces with embedded sources for spatiotemporal control, achieving arbitrary far-field control remains challenging. Here, we present a self-driving lab (SDL) platform that addresses this challenge by discovering the governing equations for predicting the far-field emission profile from light-emitting metasurfaces. We discover that both the spatial gradient (grating-like) and the curvature (lens-like) of the local refractive index are key factors in steering spontaneous emission. The SDL employs a machine-learning framework comprising: (1) a variational autoencoder for generating complex spatial refractive index profiles, (2) an active learning agent for guiding experiments with real-time closed-loop feedback, and (3) a neural network-based equation learner to uncover structure-property relationships. The SDL demonstrates up to a four-fold enhancement in peak emission directivity (up to 77%) over a 74° field of view within ~300 experiments. Our findings reveal that combinations of positive gratings and lenses are as effective as negative lenses and gratings for all emission angles, offering a novel strategy for controlling spontaneous emission beyond conventional Fourier optics.
