Project description
Graphene photodetectors for high-speed optical communications
Graphene’s exquisite optical properties make the material particularly attractive for optoelectronics applications. Integrating graphene photodetectors on silicon waveguides holds great potential for high-speed optical communications. The EU-funded Graph-IC project developed such a photodetector which is expected to outperform state-of-the-art systems in terms of data rates, cost and energy consumption. The new technology was fully integrated and utilised the entire transmission window of optical fibres. With this proof-of-concept system, the project aimed to prove the viability and identify technical issues of high-bandwidth graphene photodetectors in the optical region of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Objective
The goal of the Graph-IC proof of concept proposal is to verify the innovation potential of silicon-technology-integrated graphene photodetectors for high-speed and broadband light conversion. The idea of this PoC is to use such graphene photodetectors as an enabling technology for integrated optoelectronic systems with extremely high data rates. The new technology will be fully integrated and allow the utilization of the entire transmission window of optical fibers. Such systems have the potential to decisively outperform existing systems in terms of data-rate, cost and energy consumption, which are becoming major challenges in large data systems. Within this PoC, we plan to establish the viability and identify technical issues of integrated graphene photodetectors with high electrical bandwidth for optical wavelengths. Graph-IC prepares the PI and his team to embark on a very high-risk, very high-gain endeavor, where the goal is to compete in a multi-billion Euro global market. This proposal is based on the scientific results of the ERC starting grant “InteGraDe – Integrating Graphene Devices (307311)”, where the PI has demonstrated the integration of graphene with silicon technology up to the wafer scale.
Fields of science
- engineering and technologymaterials engineeringfibers
- natural sciencesphysical scienceselectromagnetism and electronicsoptoelectronics
- engineering and technologynanotechnologynano-materialstwo-dimensional nanostructuresgraphene
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringsensorsoptical sensors
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesopticsfibre optics
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
ERC-POC - Proof of Concept GrantHost institution
52074 Aachen
Germany
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.