Active Hybrid Photonic Integrated Circuits for Ultra-Efficient Electro-Optic Conversion and Signal Processing

Introduction

Information and communication technology (ICT) crucially relies on the combination of two highly complementary fields: Microelectronics, which excels in processing and storing information using CMOS circuits, and photonics, which is key to fast and efficient transmission of information over large distances.

Electrical-to-Optical Conversion

Electrical-to-optical conversion in photonic integrated circuits is what links both fields. While efficient conversion from optical signals to electrical signals is straightforward even at a single-photon level, electrical-to-optical conversion represents a key challenge – with respect to efficiency, bandwidth, and noise.

Impact on Applications

This challenge does not only affect optical communications, where efficient generation of broadband data signals is key, but also prevents photonic integrated circuits from unfolding their full impact in highly relevant emerging application fields such as:

1. Microwave photonics
2. Artificial intelligence
3. Quantum technologies

Project Goals

ATHENS aims at overcoming this deficiency by establishing the foundations of a new class of photonic integrated systems that offer unprecedented electro-optic conversion performance.

Approach

The project builds upon a synergistic selection of highly disruptive approaches on the material, process, and device level, reaching from:

• Theory-guided engineering of organic electro-optic materials
• Novel ‘crystal-on-insulator’ integration platforms
• Disruptive concepts for broadband optical on-chip amplifiers based on ion implantation or parametric interaction
• Highly flexible photonic-electronic system-integration concepts based on additive nanofabrication

These technologies are combined on a system level, building a base for groundbreaking demonstrations in:

• Hyperscale communications
• Millimeter-wave signal processing
• Quantum technologies

Team Composition

The project is borne by an interdisciplinary and highly complementary team of scientists from organic chemistry, solid-state physics, quantum technologies, and communications engineering.