GaAs nano-ridge laser diodes fully fabricated in a 300-mm CMOS pilot line.

Silicon photonics is a rapidly developing technology that promises to revolutionize the way we communicate, compute and sense the world. However, the lack of highly scalable, native complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS)-integrated light sources is one of the main factors hampering its widespread adoption. Despite considerable progress in hybrid and heterogeneous integration of III-V light sources on silicon, monolithic integration by direct epitaxy of III-V materials remains the pinnacle of cost-effective on-chip light sources.

Correction: Integrated silicon photonic MEMS.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/s41378-023-00498-z.].

Micro-transfer printing InP C-band SOAs on advanced silicon photonics platform for lossless MZI switch fabrics and high-speed integrated transmitters.

We present an approach for the heterogeneous integration of InP semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs) and lasers on an advanced silicon photonics (SiPh) platform by using micro-transfer-printing (µTP). After the introduction of the µTP concept, the focus of this paper shifts to the demonstration of two C-band III-V/Si photonic integrated circuits (PICs) that are important in data-communication networks: an optical switch and a high-speed optical transmitter. First, a C-band lossless and high-speed Si Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) switch is demonstrated by co-integrating a set of InP SOAs with the Si MZI switch.

Correction: Integrated 4-terminal single-contact nanoelectromechanical relays implemented in a silicon-on-insulator foundry process.

Correction for 'Integrated 4-terminal single-contact nanoelectromechanical relays implemented in a silicon-on-insulator foundry process' by Yingying Li , , 2023, https://doi.org/10.1039/d3nr03429a.

Integrated 4-terminal single-contact nanoelectromechanical relays implemented in a silicon-on-insulator foundry process.

Integrated nanoelectromechanical (NEM) relays can be used instead of transistors to implement ultra-low power logic circuits, due to their abrupt turn off characteristics and zero off-state leakage. Further, realizing circuits with 4-terminal (4-T) NEM relays enables significant reduction in circuit device count compared to conventional transistor circuits. For practical 4-T NEM circuits, however, the relays need to be miniaturized and integrated with high-density back-end-of-line (BEOL) interconnects, which is challenging and has not been realized to date.

Integrated silicon photonic MEMS.

Silicon photonics has emerged as a mature technology that is expected to play a key role in critical emerging applications, including very high data rate optical communications, distance sensing for autonomous vehicles, photonic-accelerated computing, and quantum information processing. The success of silicon photonics has been enabled by the unique combination of performance, high yield, and high-volume capacity that can only be achieved by standardizing manufacturing technology. Today, standardized silicon photonics technology platforms implemented by foundries provide access to optimized library components, including low-loss optical routing, fast modulation, continuous tuning, high-speed germanium photodiodes, and high-efficiency optical and electrical interfaces.

Vacuum-sealed silicon photonic MEMS tunable ring resonator with an independent control over coupling and phase.

Ring resonators are a vital element for filters, optical delay lines, or sensors in silicon photonics. However, reconfigurable ring resonators with low-power consumption are not available in foundries today. We demonstrate an add-drop ring resonator with the independent tuning of round-trip phase and coupling using low-power microelectromechanical (MEMS) actuation.

Micro-transfer-printed narrow-linewidth III-V-on-Si double laser structure with a combined 110 nm tuning range.

In this work, we demonstrate for the first time a narrow-linewidth III-V-on-Si double laser structure with more than a 110 nm wavelength tuning range realized using micro-transfer printing (µTP) technology. Two types of pre-fabricated III-V semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs) with a photoluminescence (PL) peak around 1500 nm and 1550 nm are micro-transfer printed on two silicon laser cavities. The laser cavities are fabricated in imec's silicon photonics (SiPh) pilot line on 200 mm silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers with a 400 nm thick silicon device layer.

Silicon photonic microelectromechanical phase shifters for scalable programmable photonics.

Programmable photonic integrated circuits are emerging as an attractive platform for applications such as quantum information processing and artificial neural networks. However, current programmable circuits are limited in scalability by the lack of low-power and low-loss phase shifters in commercial foundries. Here, we demonstrate a compact phase shifter with low-power photonic microelectromechanical system (MEMS) actuation on a silicon photonics foundry platform (IMEC's iSiPP50G).

Compact broadband suspended silicon photonic directional coupler.

Directional couplers are extensively used in photonic integrated circuits as basic components for efficient on-chip photonic signal routing. Conventionally, directional couplers are fully encapsulated in the technology's waveguide cladding material. In this Letter, we demonstrate a compact broadband directional coupler, fully suspended in air and exhibiting efficient power coupling in the cross state.

In vitro evaluation of experimental light activated gels for tooth bleaching.

Dental bleaching is an important part of aesthetic dentistry. Various strategies have been created to enhance the bleaching efficacy. As one such strategy, light-activated nanoparticles that enable localized generation of reactive oxygen species have been developed.

1.3 μm InAs/GaAs quantum dot DFB laser integrated on a Si waveguide circuit by means of adhesive die-to-wafer bonding.

In this paper we report a single mode InAs/GaAs quantum dot distributed feedback laser at 1.3 μm wavelength heterogeneously integrated on a Si photonics waveguide circuit. Single mode lasing around 1300 nm with a side-mode suppression ratio higher than 40 dB is demonstrated.

-1 V bias 67 GHz bandwidth Si-contacted germanium waveguide p-i-n photodetector for optical links at 56 Gbps and beyond.

We demonstrate a 67 GHz bandwidth silicon-contacted germanium waveguide p-i-n photodetector operating at -1 V with 6.8 fF capacitance. The dark current is below 4 nA.

III-V-on-silicon anti-colliding pulse-type mode-locked laser.

An anti-colliding pulse-type III-V-on-silicon passively mode-locked laser is presented for the first time based on a III-V-on-silicon distributed Bragg reflector as outcoupling mirror implemented partially underneath the III-V saturable absorber. Passive mode-locking at 4.83 GHz repetition rate generating 3 ps pulses is demonstrated.

Silicon photonics integrated circuits: a manufacturing platform for high density, low power optical I/O's.

Silicon photonics integrated circuits are considered to enable future computing systems with optical input-outputs co-packaged with CMOS chips to circumvent the limitations of electrical interfaces. In this paper we present the recent progress made to enable dense multiplexing by exploiting the integration advantage of silicon photonics integrated circuits. We also discuss the manufacturability of such circuits, a key factor for a wide adoption of this technology.

Laser teeth bleaching: evaluation of eventual side effects on enamel and the pulp and the efficiency in vitro and in vivo.

Light and heat increase the reactivity of hydrogen peroxide. There is no evidence that light activation (power bleaching with high-intensity light) results in a more effective bleaching with a longer lasting effect with high concentrated hydrogen peroxide bleaching gels. Laser light differs from conventional light as it requires a laser-target interaction.

Insight in the chemistry of laser-activated dental bleaching.

The use of optical radiation for the activation of bleaching products has not yet been completely elucidated. Laser light is suggested to enhance the oxidizing effect of hydrogen peroxide. Different methods of enhancing hydrogen peroxide based bleaching are possible.

Narrow-linewidth short-pulse III-V-on-silicon mode-locked lasers based on a linear and ring cavity geometry.

Picosecond-pulse III-V-on-silicon mode-locked lasers based on linear and ring extended cavity geometries are presented. In passive mode-locked operation a 12 kHz -3dB linewidth of the fundamental RF tone at 4.7 GHz is obtained for the linear cavity geometry and 16 kHz for the ring cavity geometry.

High sensitivity 10Gb/s Si photonic receiver based on a low-voltage waveguide-coupled Ge avalanche photodetector.

We demonstrate low-voltage germanium waveguide avalanche photodetectors (APDs) with a gain × bandwidth product above 100GHz. A photonic receiver based on such a Ge APD, including a 0.13μm SiGe BiCMOS low-noise trans-impedance amplifier and a limiting amplifier, is realized.

An octave-spanning mid-infrared frequency comb generated in a silicon nanophotonic wire waveguide.

Laser frequency combs, sources with a spectrum consisting of hundred thousands evenly spaced narrow lines, have an exhilarating potential for new approaches to molecular spectroscopy and sensing in the mid-infrared region. The generation of such broadband coherent sources is presently under active exploration. Technical challenges have slowed down such developments.

Silicon dual-ring modulator driven by differential signal.

A silicon dual-ring modulator consisting of two serially cascaded rings with embedded PN junctions is driven by a differential signal pair. We show by simulation and experiment that the device has advantages over the single-ring modulator in terms of optical bandwidth, 3-dB modulation bandwidth and bit rate, at the expense of a 1.7-dB increase in the transmission penalty and a twofold increase of the RF power consumption.

Generation of 3.6 μm radiation and telecom-band amplification by four-wave mixing in a silicon waveguide with normal group velocity dispersion.

Mid-infrared light generation through four-wave mixing-based frequency down-conversion in a normal group velocity dispersion silicon waveguide is demonstrated. A telecom-wavelength signal is down-converted across more than 1.2 octaves using a pump at 2190 nm in a 1 cm-long waveguide.

Impact of ALD grown passivation layers on silicon nitride based integrated optic devices for very-near-infrared wavelengths.

A CMOS compatible post-processing method to reduce optical losses in silicon nitride (Si(3)N(4)) integrated optical waveguides is demonstrated. Using thin layer atomic layer deposition (ALD) of aluminum oxide (Al(2)O(3)) we demonstrate that surface roughness can be reduced. A 40 nm thick Al(2)O(3) layer is deposited by ALD over Si(3)N(4) based strip waveguides and its influence on the surface roughness and the waveguide loss is studied.

Silicon-organic hybrid (SOH) IQ modulator using the linear electro-optic effect for transmitting 16QAM at 112 Gbit/s.

Advanced modulation formats call for suitable IQ modulators. Using the silicon-on-insulator (SOI) platform we exploit the linear electro-optic effect by functionalizing a photonic integrated circuit with an organic χ(2)-nonlinear cladding. We demonstrate that this silicon-organic hybrid (SOH) technology allows the fabrication of IQ modulators for generating 16QAM signals with data rates up to 112 Gbit/s.

Demonstration of Silicon-on-insulator mid-infrared spectrometers operating at 3.8 μm.

The design and characterization of silicon-on-insulator mid-infrared spectrometers operating at 3.8 μm is reported. The devices are fabricated on 200 mm SOI wafers in a CMOS pilot line.