For the first time, researchers are placing photonic filters and modulators on a standard chip.
*：spectrum ieee
Alvaro Casas Bedoya (handheld novel photonic chips) and Ben Eggleton of the University of Sydney Institute for Nanotechnology.
Researchers at the University of Sydney have combined photonic filters and modulators on a single chip, enabling precise detection of signals in the wideband radio frequency (RF) spectrum. This research further promotes the development of photonic chips to replace larger and more complex electronic RF chips in optical fiber networks.
The Sydney team utilises stimulated Brillouin scattering, which involves converting an electric field in certain insulators, such as fiber optics, into pressure waves. In 2011, researchers reported that Brillouin scattering has the potential for high-resolution filtering and developed new fabrication techniques to incorporate the chalcogenide Brillouin waveguide onto silicon chips. In 2023, they managed to successfully combine a photonic filter and a modulator on the same type of chip. In a Nov. 20 article published in Nature Communications, the team reported that the combination resulted in a spectral resolution of 37 megahertz for the experimental chip with a wider bandwidth than previous chips.
D**id Marpaung, a nanophotonics researcher at the University of Twente in the Netherlands, said: "The integration of the modulator with this active waveguide is a key breakthrough here. Marpaung worked with the Sydney team a decade ago and now leads his own research team, which is taking a different approach to achieve wideband, high-resolution photonic radio sensitivity in a miniature package. Marpaung said that when someone achieves a spectral resolution of less than 10 MHz in the 100 GHz band, they will be able to replace bulky electronic RF chips on the market. Another advantage of such chips is that they can convert RF signals into optical signals for direct transmission over fiber optic networks. The winner of this competition will be able to tap into a huge market of telecom providers and defense manufacturers who need radio receivers that can reliably navigate complex radio frequency (RF) environments.
"Chalcogenides have a very strong Brillouin effect;This is great, but there is still the question of whether it is scalable ......It is still considered a laboratory material." The Sydney team had to find a new way to mount a 5-millimeter-encapsulated chalcogenide waveguide into a standard-fabricated silicon chip, which was no easy task. In 2017, the team figured out how to combine chalcogenides onto silicon input and output rings, but it wasn't until this year that anyone managed this combination with a standard chip.
Photonic chips are a global effort
Other research teams are working on different materials that may also offer similar properties. For example, lithium niobate has better modulator properties than silicon, and Marpaung, in his work that is still under peer review, has shown that lithium niobate can provide similar high-resolution filtering through Brillouin scattering. Another team led by Peter Rakich at Yale University demonstrated last year that a combination of pure silicon waveguides and chips can achieve 6 in the 2 GHz band7 MHz filtering. The study does not have an integrated modulator, but it suggests that there is a potentially simpler manufacturing path that involves less material.
That said, the Sydney team's approach may require better acoustic performance than silicon. Researchers have known about the Brillouin effect for more than 100 years, but in recent decades there has been a resurgence of interest. In the past, researchers used it to store information in light pulses before retransmitting it, a trick to avoid converting light into electricity and returning it again.
Of course, the dream of integrating photonic chips has many moving parts. Sydney researchers write that modulators made by others are improving at a rapid pace, which will also help their technology. Other advancements in related technologies may benefit some other teams working on integrated photonic chips. "If you solve the integration problems, the performance problems, and the usability, you get market acceptance," Marpaung said.
Original link:
[2024 annual plan].Two excellent magazines affiliated to ACT International Business News: "Compound Semiconductor" The annual plan for the 2024 seminar of "Semiconductor Core Technology" has been released. Online and offline, seek common industry development and industrial progress!Business opportunities and cooperation at a glance, you are welcome to get it!
Conference Preview] On January 11, 2024, the first session of the new year, the Crystal Core Seminar invites you to reunite online
Power semiconductors have become one of the core devices in the industry, and Henkel China, a leading supplier of packaging materials, will be invited to share its most advanced materials and research progress in the field of power semiconductor packagingScan the QR code to make an appointment and invite you to communicate online.
Disclaimer: This **part of the article** is from the Internet, ** is only for wider dissemination. *The copyright of the article belongs to the original author, if you have any objection, please contact us to modify or delete. Contact email: [email protected]， *0755-25988573