Laser Technologies Fueling Breakthroughs In Photonic Integrated Circuits
By Emily Newton
Photonic integrated circuits (PICs) are important for applications ranging from biomedicine to communications. Many people use or incorporate laser technologies to achieve innovations while working with PICs.
Their results could spur progress throughout numerous industries. Many people interested in this area are also eager to investigate new, scalable, and efficient manufacturing technologies that make it easier and faster to produce PICs with high accuracy and productivity.
Making A Photonic Integrated Circuit With A Laser And Waveguide
A team achieved a first-of-its-kind feat in photonic integrated circuits by creating a new chip containing a laser and photonic waveguide. This could support quantum computing and atomic clock applications while eliminating the need to use huge optical tables during chip creation.
This pioneering chip featured an ultra-low-loss silicon nitride waveguide on a silicon substrate. The team covered the waveguide with several coats of silicon, using it as the surface for mounting a low-noise indium phosphate laser. The silicone coatings separated the waveguide and laser to prevent damage during the chip’s etching.
The chip also needed a silicon nitride distribution layer so evanescent fields could enable interactions between the two components. That crucial layer resulted in an ideal distance between the two components that minimized interference. Once the chip passed noise-level tests, the team used it to make a tunable microwave frequency generator.
This work is in the early stages, but those involved view their chip and the associated frequency generator as critical steps showing the possibilities of creating complex networks and systems directly on silicon.
Reducing A Laser’s Size To Improve Photonic Integrated Circuits
Researchers at the Sandia National Laboratory’s Microsystems Engineering, Science, and Applications Center believe that shrinking lasers to microscopic levels could further the engineering of better photonic integrated circuits, along with other microscale optical devices. Work in this area could enhance everything from the safety of self-driving vehicles to the portability of biochemical sensors.
The laboratory recently received a patent for its work integrating numerous materials in silicon. The outcomes make building high-bandwidth and high-speed optical devices for future advanced systems easier. The researchers also believe these efforts could make the microscopic lasers part of PICs. Team members hope to eventually combine several lasers and optical components onto one chip.
The group has big plans for these chip-sized lasers. Although they must first prove the feasibility of this photonic platform in their lab, they want to interest companies throughout the United States in this manufacturing approach. Succeeding in this aim would decrease the nation’s dependence on foreign facilities.
Manufacturing photonic integrated circuits and similar advanced components can be challenging, particularly because many production methods lack the necessary scalability to appeal to commercial and government clients. Fortunately, the members of this Sandia team think they can make their process scalable, and they’re eager to work with industry partners to see what’s possible.
Speeding The Creation Of Photonic Integrated Circuits
People in the manufacturing industry are always interested in strategies that can improve output without sacrificing quality control. Automated laser-marking systems used for component traceability allow people to increase speed while reducing errors. Some can mark products three times faster than humans, making them good investments.
Recently, a research team explored accelerating the creation of photonic integrated circuits with a laser printer. This option is significantly faster than current methods and opens opportunities for producing PIC outside of traditional nanofabrication facilities.
The leader of the multidisciplinary team working on this project said students wishing to learn about PICs to keep pace with modern technologies usually need access to multimillion-dollar facilities, which is significantly limiting. However, this laser printer-based approach removes that barrier by reducing the cost and access difficulties associated with the equipment.
Researchers similarly benefit because this approach will shorten their development and prototyping time, allowing them to print new designs before booking appointments at nanofabrication facilities. People say this approach allowed them to write whole photonic circuits and rewrite them if necessary. This can happen in only minutes, whereas earlier processes took days.
Although there are still some details to iron out, group members are already engaging with industry representatives to discuss possibilities for applying this fabrication method to reconfigurable optical networks and programmable PICs.
Elsewhere, people have investigated 3D printing for creating electronics more efficiently than other methods allow. Willingness to try different methods is an important part of pursuing innovations to see which options deserve further attention.
Lasers Causing Exciting Improvements In PICs
These are some of the many examples of what people can achieve when they think creatively, consider all possibilities, and stay open to new or unconventional manufacturing methods. Although this work does not yet occur commercially, many parties involved understand the importance of making their techniques sufficiently scalable. Researchers and other interested parties should look forward to the promising outcomes that could occur soon.
About The Author
Emily Newton is the Editor-in-Chief of Revolutionized. She regularly explores the impact technology has on the industrial sector.