Periodic Reporting for period 1 - PICaboo (Photonic Integrated Circuits on InP technology plAtform enaBling low cost metro netwOrks and next generation PONs)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2021-01-01 do 2022-06-30
PICaboo is a Horizon 2020 ICT project funded by the European Commission and the Photonics Public Private Partnership (PPP) which will develop novel building blocks compatible with the generic foundry model, and application-specific photonic integrated circuits (PICs) that will transform optical communication networks in terms of key performance parameters like speed, power consumption and cost. PICaboo will advance two major European InP PIC technology platforms (TUe and III-V Lab) with the integration of novel building blocks that will be used to design advanced PICs with novel functionalities that meet the requirements of industrial photonic application roadmaps. Technology development will rely on standardized procedures that comply with the generic process flow of each platform i.e. the process-design kit (PDK) platform libraries which describe the building blocks based on the set of fabrication rules and operating characteristics. Exploitation of the PICs that will be developed within PICaboo will be undertaken by its industrial partners, NOKIA and ADVA. Apart from the application-specific PIC demonstrators, the applicability of the developed building blocks will be investigated further for alternative applications in which photonics plays a key role, exploiting the respective PDKs for the design of new circuits. In this way, the developed building blocks will leverage the potential to penetrate additional established or emerging markets e.g. quantum, metrology and sensing. More specifically, PICaboo has the following technical objectives:
Objective 1: Development of a polarization handling toolbox on the InP technology platform of TUe.
Objective 2: Development of balanced photodetectors and widely tunable laser on the InP platform of TUe.
Objective 3: Development of a high speed Selective-Area-Growth enabled PIC platform operating in the O-band based on III-V Lab’s InP Semi-Insulated Buried-Heterostructure technology.
Objective 4: Development of low-loss passive structures, high-speed EAMs, gain sections and DFB lasers on the novel SAG-SIBH platform of III-V Lab.
Objective 5: Generation of physical models of the developed building blocks in the form of PDK-compatible libraries.
Objective 6: Development of a dual polarization coherent receiver PIC leveraging all-optical DSP functions for optical metro networks and datacentre interconnect applications.
Objective 7: Development of EAM-based transmitter PICs employing all-optical pre-equalization on-chip for next generation PONs and 5G/6G fronthaul applications.
Objective 8: Validation of the developed PIC demonstrators and exploitation of project foreground in relevant application areas.
Objective 1: Development of a polarization handling toolbox on the InP technology platform of TUe.
Objective 2: Development of balanced photodetectors and widely tunable laser on the InP platform of TUe.
Objective 3: Development of a high speed Selective-Area-Growth enabled PIC platform operating in the O-band based on III-V Lab’s InP Semi-Insulated Buried-Heterostructure technology.
Objective 4: Development of low-loss passive structures, high-speed EAMs, gain sections and DFB lasers on the novel SAG-SIBH platform of III-V Lab.
Objective 5: Generation of physical models of the developed building blocks in the form of PDK-compatible libraries.
Objective 6: Development of a dual polarization coherent receiver PIC leveraging all-optical DSP functions for optical metro networks and datacentre interconnect applications.
Objective 7: Development of EAM-based transmitter PICs employing all-optical pre-equalization on-chip for next generation PONs and 5G/6G fronthaul applications.
Objective 8: Validation of the developed PIC demonstrators and exploitation of project foreground in relevant application areas.
During the first period of the project, the use cases for the different PICaboo building blocks, sub-circuits and PIC demonstrators were defined and the first system-level specifications were derived. Furthermore, the first round of system-level simulations was performed proving the functionality of the PICaboo Tx- and Rx-side PIC demonstrators. Initial models were constructed using already available data and will be employed to system-level simulations. The O-band SAG process in the InP platform of III-V Lab was developed and optimized. A complete characterization of Deep-Etched and Buried Heterostructure waveguides was performed to decide the optimal approach for the development of the PICs. Different designs for the polarization handling elements were identified and simulated in the InP platform of TUE and a passive wafer run to fabricate polarization converters was initiated. The 90-degree hybrid coupler was also designed, and a detailed study was performed for its miniaturization. The equivalent circuit model for the balanced detectors was developed and a tunable laser design with asymmetric MZIs was investigated. The topologies of the PICaboo PICs were identified and the initial packaging specifications were defined. Close collaboration with the subcontractors has been established and thermal, RF, DC and optical coupling simulations have already been performed. The 3D packages of the models have been designed and some tests have been made in dummy chips. The testing methodologies and experimental testbeds were defined and a phase tracking algorithm and the respective controller hardware were developed and tested, exploiting an emulation system. Certain tasks, mainly involving the fabrication activities, have experienced a delay of ∼10 months mainly affected by the COVID-19 constraint measures that affected severely the two foundries.
PICaboo is committed to bring significant innovations in the fields of a) photonic integration technology, b) PIC design and c) photonics-enabled applications, targeting exploitation of its foregrounds in the metro/DCI and next generation PON markets and benefiting from emerging open market opportunities. The coherent receiver PICs with phase and polarization control will bring power consumption benefits of 30% and cost reduction by 3.6x compared to coherent technologies. Furthermore, the single EAM-MZM transmitter PICs will leverage power consumption improvement of 50% whereas the EAM-IQM transmitter PICs will bring an improvement of 65% compared to existing 50G EML solutions while cost savings of almost 20% are expected.
PICaboo will reduce the environmental footprint of metro/DCI and access networks by: a) migrating power hungry coherent DSP from the digital to the optical domain, b) relaxing DSP requirements at the transmitter-side via the all-optical equalization functionality and c) the possibility to operate the EAM-based transmitters at 55oC allowing for semi-cooled operation. Finally, PICaboo will foster the next generation of designers yielding a socioeconomic impact via the creation of new jobs for young entrepreneurs and innovators.
PICaboo will reduce the environmental footprint of metro/DCI and access networks by: a) migrating power hungry coherent DSP from the digital to the optical domain, b) relaxing DSP requirements at the transmitter-side via the all-optical equalization functionality and c) the possibility to operate the EAM-based transmitters at 55oC allowing for semi-cooled operation. Finally, PICaboo will foster the next generation of designers yielding a socioeconomic impact via the creation of new jobs for young entrepreneurs and innovators.