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September 19, 2025 36 mins

About a year ago we released an episode on the future of ultrafast electronics and it quickly became one of our most popular episodes on YouTube. We’re excited to re-share it with you today. Physicist Matthias Kling walks us through his study of photons and the things science can do with ultrafast pulses of x-rays. The knowledge he’s gaining could reshape fields like materials science, artificial intelligence, ultrafast and quantum computers, and medical diagnostics. We hope you’ll tune in again wherever you get your podcasts. And as a reminder, we post full video versions of each of our episodes on YouTube every Friday, so be sure to check those out if you haven’t already.

Have a question for Russ? Send it our way in writing or via voice memo, and it might be featured on an upcoming episode. Please introduce yourself, let us know where you're listening from, and share your question. You can send questions to thefutureofeverything@stanford.edu.

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Chapters:

(00:00:00) Introduction

Russ Altman introduces guest Matthias Kling, a professor of photon science and applied physics at Stanford University.

(00:02:21) Ultrafast Electronics

New technologies enabling ultrafast photonics and electronics.

(00:05:40) Attosecond Science Applications

Capturing electron and molecular movements with attosecond pulses.

(00:10:23) Real-Time Molecular Measurements

How free-electron lasers enable detailed, atom-specific measurements.

(00:15:02) Free-Electron Lasers

Using light waves to capture images of molecules at room temperature.

(00:22:28) Electronics at Light Speed

Whether attosecond science could enable computing at petahertz speed.

(00:26:24) Lightwaves & Quantum Computing

How lightwave electronics could allow for energy-efficient quantum computers.

(00:29:29) AI Meets Ultrafast Science

AI's role in optimizing research and data collection in ultrafast electronics.

(00:31:47) The Future of Ultafast Electronics

How attosecond science, computing, and AI converge to accelerate innovation.

(00:35:25) Conclusion

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