Silicon photonics integrated devices and circuits

Description

Silicon photonics is a technological platform focused on advancing photonic integrated circuits (PICs) through CMOS-compatible processes, all within the same foundries dedicated to electronic ICs. Its primary goal is to propel the development of cutting-edge PICs capable of delivering enhanced performance in terms of power and electro-optic efficiency, sustainability, dependability, and affordability. This domain of research encompasses a wide array of subjects including different approaches to light generation, routing/processing, and detection, and encompassing analytical, design, and characterization endeavors:

  • design of III-V on Si external cavity lasers (hybrid or heterogeneous integration) based on silicon and/or silicon nitride mirrors, tolerant to external optical feedbacks, featuring ultra-high damping of the relaxation oscillations and/or photon-photon resonance;
  • study of quantum dot lasers, directly grown on silicon, with a physics-based model that couples the classical drift-diffusion model with the rate equations of a quantum dot laser, allowing the interpretation of the laser degradation processes and the quantification of the impact of threading dislocations on its performance;
  • carrier transport and electromagnetic modeling of silicon-organic hybrid or plasmonic approaches for indirect modulation of light in compact, low-power ultra-high-speed communication systems;
  • design and experimental characterization of passive optical components such as linear high-Q microrings, gratings, and couplers in both linear and non-linear regimes, including pump-probe free carrier lifetime measurements, thermal tuning, analysis of the tolerance to the external optical feedback;
  • design and simulation of wavelength selective switching PICs, allowing the routing of optical signals based on their wavelength, over the S+C+L bands, integrating various photonic components such as wavelength filters, switches, and couplers;
  • employing multiphysics analysis and design of germanium-on-silicon waveguide photodetectors featuring complex 3D dopant and compositional profiles, to be integrated on silicon photonics platforms.

ERC sectors 

  • PE7_5 (Micro- and nano-) electronic, optoelectronic and photonic components
  • PE7_6 Communication systems, wireless technology, high-frequency technology
  • PE7_3 Simulation engineering and modelling
  • PE7_11 Components and systems for applications (in e.g. medicine, biology, environment)

Keywords 

  • Silicon photonics
  • Integrated optics
  • Modelling and experiments
  • III-V on Si external-cavity lasers
  • III-V on Si quantum dot lasers
  • Silicon-organic hybrid electro-optic modulators
  • III-V on passive optical components
  • Photonic integrated circuits (PICs)
  • Wavelength selective switches
  • Benes networks
  • Germanium-on-silicon detectors
  • Waveguide detectors