Project description
Silicon nitride as a photonic platform for visible and near-infrared light
Infrared radiation is used in industrial, scientific, military, commercial and medical applications. Devices using near-infrared illumination open up new possibilities for environmental sensing and quantum technologies. Currently, the majority of these devices comprise fibres or free-space optical components, which limit their widespread use. The EU-funded VISSION project will tap into the potential of silicon nitride – an ideal platform for photonic integrated circuits owing to low propagation loss, high power handling and compatibility with CMOS technology. Researchers will develop sources, detectors and modulators that can operate in the visible and near-infrared parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. The envisioned platform will allow reductions in the size and cost of existing systems and improvements in energy efficiency and speed.
Objective
VISSION aims to extend the silicon nitride (SiN) photonic integrated circuit (PIC) platform for the visible and near-infrared wavelength range (400 nm–1100 nm) with active building blocks including sources, detectors and modulators. The spectral range is the region of interest for a large number of life science applications, environmental sensing and atom based quantum technology. Concrete application examples are optical coherence tomography systems, flow cytometers, water pollution sensors, optical clocks, and ion based quantum computers. Today, the majority of these systems rely on fiber based or free space optical components, limiting their widespread use. The envisioned active PIC platform will allow for a reduction in size and cost of existing systems, and improvements in robustness, energy efficiency, and speed. On-chip integration also offers possibilities for increased system complexity and the corresponding added functionality. To realize this active PIC platform, we will enhance the existing passive SiN platform with heterogeneously integrated active materials. Today’s SiN PIC technology features passive components with excellent performance, but active functionality is lacking. We will add on-chip active building blocks – III-V and III-N lasers, PZT modulators and Si detectors – operating at visible and near-IR wavelengths. The heterogeneous integration will be enabled through micro-transfer printing. Both techniques allow for the integration of multiple active materials on the same chip, which is necessary if sources, modulators and detectors operating over a wide wavelength range are to be integrated on a single chip. The generic building blocks developed in VISSION will be added to a process design kit (PDK), allowing future platform users to build complex on-chip systems. The VISSION PIC technology will be validated by component and system level testing of an OCT system and cytometry.
Fields of science
- engineering and technologymaterials engineeringfibers
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringcomputer hardwarequantum computers
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringsensors
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesquantum physicsquantum optics
- natural scienceschemical sciencesinorganic chemistrymetalloids
Keywords
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-RIA - HORIZON Research and Innovation ActionsCoordinator
3001 Leuven
Belgium