- Awards and Distinctions
The Prix Planète are presented to INRS professors who have made outstanding contributions to the development and sharing of scientific knowledge.
The 2025 Achievement in Research Award was presented to Professor Jinyang Liang for the work in ultrafast imaging he carried out with his research team.
Capturing up to 156.3 trillion images per second
The project “Development of Canada’s fastest camera for real-time observation of ultrafast interactions between light and matter” by Professor Jinyang Liang of the Énergie Matériaux Télécommunications Research Centre has led to the development of a new ultrafast camera system that can capture up to 156.3 quadrillion images per second with astonishing accuracy. This speed makes it the fastest camera in Canada and ranks it third in the world.
Named SCARF (for swept coded aperture real-time femtophotography), this unique device captures transient absorption in semiconductors and ultrafast demagnetization in metal alloys. For the first time ever, single-exposure 2D optical imaging of ultrafast demagnetization is now possible.
Already having an impact in science and beyond
The INRS 2025 Prix Planète selection committee was impressed by the recognition this innovation has already garnered, including publication in Nature Communications and selection as one of the 10 top discoveries of 2024 by Québec Science.
This ultrafast camera opens up a world of possible applications in multiple fields and many opportunities for future collaborations, which also caught the attention of the selection committee. It could help advance knowledge in modern physics, biology, chemistry, materials science, and engineering. These advances could be used to create better pharmaceuticals and medical treatments and improve the mechanical properties of materials.
In addition, SCARF promises economic spinoffs, as two companies—Axis Photonique and Few-Cycle—are working with Professor Liang’s team to develop a marketable version of the discovery, whose patent is currently pending.
“I strive for excellence in research, but I also seek to transfer technology so that it can contribute to Québec’s socioeconomic development, for example in biomedical applications such as fever detection or cancer diagnosis. I hope that our work will improve public health and save lives while strengthening Québec’s leadership in the photonics industry.”
Jinyang Liang, professor at the INRS Centre Énergie Matériaux Télécommunications, scientific director of the Applied Computer Imaging Laboratory, Canada Research Chair in Ultrafast Computer Imaging, and co-holder of the INRS Chair in Nanobiophotonics
Recognizing faculty members’ contributions to the economic, social, and cultural development of society
The Prix Planète celebrates individual or collaborative contributions by faculty members to pursuing the three main pillars of INRS’s mission: fundamental and applied research, graduate training and education, and knowledge and technology transfer.
The Achievement in Research Award celebrates a major scientific accomplishment whose quality, scope, innovative nature, impact on the advancement of knowledge, potential benefits to society, renown, or significance to INRS are remarkable. This award comes with a $5,000 research fund.
