Final Report Summary - SWIFT (Surface Plasmon-Based Wifi for Nanoscale Optical Information Transport - SWIFT)
Optical data transmission is rapidly penetrating intimate level of data processing architecture. The need for a massively parallel traffic flow at increasing bandwidth has turned copper cables obsolete in short-distance data centers, including on-chip networks. The technology deploys on-chip lasers and silicon modulators to send data stream on a silicon waveguide connected to a fiber optical cable between inter-chip transceiver modules. However, optical and electric crosstalks, the large thermal envelope and footprint, as well as complex wafer bonding requirements are limiting factors for using this platform at the nanoscale. In this context, optical antennas are considered a potential alternative for on-chip optical data wireless link because they can be deployed as transmitting and receiving nanoscale devices provided that they can be interfaced with an electronic control layer.
With this project, we developed electrically contacted optical antennas operating a bilateral conversion between electrons and photons. These distinctive functionalities are based on the unique opto-electrical properties of atomic-scale gaps. Specifically, we engineered large bandwidth electron-fed light emitting optical metal antennas and all-metal ultrafast optical rectennas. These paradigm-shifting nanoscale components are sharing the same technological protocols to a point where the electrically-connected optical antennas developed in the project can be operated arbitrarily in transmitting mode or in receiving mode, serving thus as a single-unit nanoscale transceiver. We integrated this innovative generation of optical nano-antennas on various waveguiding architectures to realize a seamless electrical excitation of optical modes. We finally demonstrated a light-in and electrical signal-out, wireless near-infrared link on-chip converting the transmitted optical energy into direct electrical current. The co-integration of subwavelength optical functional devices with electronic transduction offers a disruptive solution to interface photons and electrons at the nanoscale for on-chip wireless optical interconnects.
With this project, we developed electrically contacted optical antennas operating a bilateral conversion between electrons and photons. These distinctive functionalities are based on the unique opto-electrical properties of atomic-scale gaps. Specifically, we engineered large bandwidth electron-fed light emitting optical metal antennas and all-metal ultrafast optical rectennas. These paradigm-shifting nanoscale components are sharing the same technological protocols to a point where the electrically-connected optical antennas developed in the project can be operated arbitrarily in transmitting mode or in receiving mode, serving thus as a single-unit nanoscale transceiver. We integrated this innovative generation of optical nano-antennas on various waveguiding architectures to realize a seamless electrical excitation of optical modes. We finally demonstrated a light-in and electrical signal-out, wireless near-infrared link on-chip converting the transmitted optical energy into direct electrical current. The co-integration of subwavelength optical functional devices with electronic transduction offers a disruptive solution to interface photons and electrons at the nanoscale for on-chip wireless optical interconnects.