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Silicon photonics
Silicon photonics is the study and application of photonic systems which use silicon as an optical medium.[1] [2] [3]
[4] [5]
The silicon is usually patterned with sub-micrometre precision, into microphotonic components.[4] These
operate in the infrared, most commonly at the 1.55 micrometre wavelength used by most fiber optic
telecommunication systems.[1] The silicon typically lies on top of a layer of silica in what (by analogy with a similar
construction in microelectronics) is known as silicon on insulator (SOI).[4] [5]
Silicon photonic devices can be made using existing semiconductor fabrication techniques, and because silicon is
already used as the substrate for most integrated circuits, it is possible to create hybrid devices in which the optical
and electronic components are integrated onto a single microchip.[1] Consequently, silicon photonics is being
actively researched by many electronics manufacturers including IBM and Intel, who see it is a means for keeping on
track with Moore's Law, by using optical interconnects to provide faster data transfer both between and within
microchips.[6] [7]
The propagation of light through silicon devices is governed by a range of nonlinear optical phenomena including
the Kerr effect, the Raman effect, two photon absorption and interactions between photons and free charge
carriers.[8] The presence of nonlinearity is of fundamental importance, as it enables light to interact with light,[9] thus
permitting applications such as wavelength conversion and all-optical signal routing, in addition to the passive
transmission of light.
Silicon waveguides are also of great academic interest, due to their ability to support exotic nonlinear optical
phenomena such as soliton propagation.[10] [11] [12]
Applications
Optical interconnects
Future progress in computer technology (and the continuation of Moore's Law) is becoming increasingly dependent
on ultra-fast data transfer between and within microchips.[13] High speed optical interconnects are seen as a
promising way forward, and silicon photonics is seen as particularly useful, due to the ability to integrate electronic
and optical components on the same silicon chip.[1] [14] [15] Intel senior vice president Pat Gelsinger has stated that,
"Today, optics is a niche technology. Tomorrow, it's the mainstream of every chip that we build."[7] IBM also has an
extensive research program in the field.[6]
Optical interconnects require the integration of a range of technologies. Firstly, an on-chip laser source is required.
One such device is the hybrid silicon laser, in which the silicon is bonded to a different semiconductor (such as
indium phosphide) which acts as the lasing medium.[16] Another possibility is the all-silicon Raman laser, in which
the silicon itself acts as the lasing medium.[17]
There must also be a means to modulate the light, thus causing it to carry data in the form of optical pulses. One such
technique is to control the density of free charge carriers, which (as described below) alter the optical properties of
the waveguide. Modulators have been constructed where the light passes through the intrinsic region of a PIN diode,
into which carriers can be injected or removed by altering the polarity of an applied voltage.[18] By using an optical
ring resonator with a built in PIN diode, data transmission rates of 18 Gbit/s have been achieved.[19] By constructing
devices where the electrical signal co-moves with the light, data rates of 30 Gbit/s have been achieved.[20] By
constructing devices where the multiple wavelengths are used to scale the modulation capacity 50 Gbit/s modulation
capacity has been achieved.[21] A prototype optical interconnect with microring modulators integrated with
germanium detectors has also been demonstrated [22] [23]
After passage through a silicon waveguide to a different chip (or region of the same chip) the light must be detected,
converting the data back into electronic form. Detectors based on metal-semiconductor junctions (with germanium as
Silicon photonics 2
the semiconductor) have been integrated into silicon waveguides.[24] More recently, silicon-germanium avalanche
photodiodes capable of operating at 40 Gbit/s have been fabricated.[25] [26]
Physical properties
Kerr nonlinearity
Silicon has a focusing Kerr nonlinearity, in that the refractive index increases with optical intensity.[8] This effect is
not especially strong in bulk silicon, but it can be greatly enhanced by using a silicon waveguide to concentrate light
into a very small cross-sectional area.[10] This allows nonlinear optical effects to be seen at low powers. The
nonlinearity can be enhanced further by using a slot waveguide, in which the high refractive index of the silicon is
used to confine light into a central region filled with a strongly nonlinear polymer.[39]
Kerr nonlinearity underlies a wide variety of optical phenomena.[36] One example is four wave mixing, which has
been applied in silicon to realise both optical parametric amplification [40] and parametric wavelength conversion.[30]
Kerr nonlinearity can also cause modulational instability, in which it reinforces deviations from an optical waveform,
leading to the generation of spectral-sidebands and the eventual breakup of the waveform into a train of pulses.[41]
Another example (as described below) is soliton propagation.
Two-photon absorption
Silicon exhibits two-photon absorption (TPA), in which a pair of photons can act to excite an electron-hole pair.[8]
This process is related to the Kerr effect, and by analogy with complex refractive index, can be thought of as the
imaginary-part of a complex Kerr nonlinearity.[8] At the 1.55 micrometre telecommunication wavelength, this
imaginary part is approximately 10% of the real part.[42]
The influence of TPA is highly disruptive, as it both wastes light, and generates unwanted heat.[43] It can be
mitigated, however, either by switching to longer wavelengths (at which the TPA to Kerr ratio drops),[44] or by using
slot waveguides (in which the internal nonlinear material has a lower TPA to Kerr ratio).[39] Alternatively, the
energy lost through TPA can be partially recovered (as is described below) by extracting it from the generated charge
carriers.[45]
Solitons
The evolution of light through silicon waveguides can be approximated with a cubic Nonlinear Schrödinger
equation,[8] which is notable for admitting sech-like soliton solutions.[50] These optical solitons (which are also
known in optical fiber) result from a balance between self phase modulation (which causes the leading edge of the
pulse to be redshifted and the trailing edge blueshifted) and anomalous group velocity dispersion.[36] Such solitons
have been observed in silicon waveguides, by groups at the universities of Columbia,[10] Rochester,[11] and Bath.[12]
External links
• IBM's page on silicon integrated nanophotonics [51]
• Intel's page on silicon photonics [52]
• Uk based project website on silicon photonics [53]
• European project website on silicon photonics [54]
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Article Sources and Contributors 7
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